Black Irish
by Origami Creature
Summary: Isabella Swan is a 23 year old Irish girl leaving behind her beloved Dublin for the bright lights of New York city. She arrives at Whitlock's International Hostel hoping for a new beginning, but ends up getting more then she bargains for. E/B
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**

_Isabella Swan is a 23 year old Irish girl and aspiring editor leaving behind her beloved Dublin for the bright lights of New York city. Worn out by months of unemployment and disappointment, she arrives at Whitlock's International Hostel hoping for a new beginning._

_In the end, New York will teach Isabella more about life and love then she ever expected._

_E/B Canon pairings_

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><p>"Fuckin', mother fucking piece of shit suitcase...arrrggh!" Isabella grumbled as she wrestled her suitcase into submission in the busy arrivals terminal at JFK. She was having what one might term as a "really bad day."<p>

Just a few hours ago, she had flown out of Dublin airport, leaving her beloved city behind with a heavy heart. She'd miss the stink of the Liffey in the summer and the music of the buskers that pushed you along the bustling streets. She'd miss that uncanny way you could get lost along the winding streets or be found by an old friend as you turn a familiar corner just as easily. It depends on what your heart needs. The city will take care of you. The rough Northside accents on Moor Street, promising you the freshest fruit this side of the river would become a distant memory. Her heart ached with the knowledge that one day she would forget exactly how they sounded.

She had left like so many other Irish twenty-somethings. They'd all grown up with the same lie – go to college, get a degree and then the job offers will roll in. Now it seemed she was the butt of some running joke, and like all running jokes, it wasn't really funny. What was the punchline again? Oh yeah, then the over-qualified kid has to emigrate. Ha ha? Her Bachelor's Degree in English had of course come in handy while working part-time in MacBride's Deli. She could quote The Bard while slicing cooked ham, consider Dante's _Inferno_ while refilling the coleslaw tray and compose Ginsbergian poems about bread rolls. But it had all left her feeling a little empty.

The last straw, so to speak, had been when her supervisor had spilled a pot of gravy all over the floor and tried to blame it on her in front of their store manager. _Fuck this_, she'd thought she quit the next day. Well, actually, she had handed in her letter of resignation the next day, and then worked a week's notice. Because, you see, Isabella follows the rules. Always. She considers this particular trait a curse.

She'd tried to stay in Ireland, tried to stay and get her country back on track, back to the glory days of the Celtic Tiger. But it was too hard. A person's self esteem can only take so many rejection letters. She'd received thirty-five in total, and she'd kept every one of them.

"We regret to inform you..."

"Unfortunately we are unable to offer you a position..."

"Due to the volume of applicants..."

"We will keep your application on file..."

"Good luck in the future..."

She had ripped each one to shreds as she cleaned out the room she rented in a drafty Dublin town house. It was a cathartic exercise. She had gotten a paper cut and she'd laughed. She'd sat surrounded by strips of paper, half-packed suitcases and empty bottles of wine. _This paper cut is the last injury I will let you inflict on me, Ireland_, she had thought, through her hysterical giggles.

After applying for her visa and waiting months for the bureaucrats to decide, she was eligible to live and work in the US for one year. Finally the letter had arrived, in a rather anticlimactic white envelope. Then a similarly anticlimactic temporary green card was stapled into her passport. But this was her golden ticket to at least one year of new opportunities. Of course she'd miss her family and her wonderful friends, although with every passing month they too were leaving, whether it was to London, Sydney or Toronto, they were all leaving too.

As she stood outside JFK airport, she looked at her new home. It wasn't much to look at – but then airports always look the same. She took a deep breath and boarded the bus that would take her downtown. She rummaged in her pocket for the list of hostels she wanted to look up. The first two she'd seen were beyond dodgy. She was undeniably relieved when she walked up to lucky number three – Whitlock's International Hostel. It was located opposite Central Park, at 6 West 63rd Street. Isabella didn't know much about the neighborhoods in New York but this seemed as good as anywhere.

She wheeled her heavy suitcase into the entrance only to be confronted with six rather steep steps. She sighed. _Time to break out the guns._ She giggled to herself. She lifted her suitcase with one hand while balancing with the other. Her heavy backpack actually helped with balancing process.

"Oh, woah! Hey, Miss! Let me help you with that. Miss?" She heard a gruff voice from behind her.

But it was too late; Isabella was already three steps up, and there wasn't enough room to balance her case on the narrow steps, so she kept going, hoping to avoid an embarrassing fall. Unfortunately, chivalry can be a bit slow sometimes. Feminism is always faster. She set down her suitcase as she reached the top of the steps. She turned to thank her helpful little Boy Scout only to be confronted with a giant of a man.

"Dude, you're ripped!" He chortled.

"Um...thanks?" Isabella offered.

"No for real, that was impressive. I like a woman who can take care of herself!" He grinned down at her.

"Ahem," A pointed cough came from somewhere behind him. As he turned to address the source of the cough, he revealed a tall blonde woman, who would have been very pretty had she not been wearing such a sour expression, Isabella thought.

"Aw, c'mon, babe, I was just playin'. I didn't mean anything by it," he placated.

The blonde maintained her icy glare and Isabella decided to take her leave.

"Right, well, thanks for offering to help. See ya 'round" She turned on her heels not bothering to listen to the poor guy pleading with the ice queen. Relationships? Who needs 'em? Isabella had never had a serious relationship before, just some drunken fumblings in the back of taxi cabs and the odd grope in the corner of a nightclub, but nothing serious. She still held her V card intact. It's not something she went around shouting about. A 23-year-old virgin was about as common as a cross dressing griffin. Still she had no regrets about it, so fuck it, she'd do what makes her happy and when she met the right guy, she'd know.

She rang the bell at the front desk; as she waited, she took in her new surroundings. The lobby was modern and sleek with lots of glass and pine furnishings. The walls were adorned with classic images of New York. Everything you'd expect to see was there: The Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Time Square, Rockefeller Center. She was surprised by a warm feeling rising through her from her toes all the way up to her scalp. She'd spent so long trying to get to the States and she had finally made it to the beginning of her new story. She felt a giddy feeling bubbling in her stomach. She pushed it down as she noticed a flash of blond curls in the corner of her eye.

"Evening, Miss! Welcome to Whitlock's International Hostel. My name is Jasper Whitlock. How can I help you today?" He drawled. His smile was infectious, and sure enough Isabella found herself smiling back at Jasper Whitlock. He seemed genuinely happy to see her. How do Americans do that? _They must be exhausted from being so happy all the time_, she thought to herself.

"Hi, well, I was wondering if you had any vacancies? I'm looking for somewhere to stay just for a few nights?" she asked hopefully.

"Well, sure let's have a look here," he clicked and typed on his computer for a moment, "... Ah! Here we go I have one bed in a four bed room. It's available for the next three nights. How's that sound?"

"Perfect, thanks," Isabella said ,feeling both surprised and relieved.

"Great, I'll just book you in now. So, what's your name?" he asked, flashing his lovely smile and sparkling blue eyes.

"Swan, Isabella Swan."

After he had taken her details and she had paid a deposit, Jasper handed her a key and a map of downtown New York.

"Okay, so your room is on the first floor, last door on the right. I'll help you with your bags," Jasper said, grabbing hold of her suitcase without waiting for a response.

"No, that's okay. I can manage." Isabella protested.

"Nonsense, I'm a Southern gentleman, Isabella, I insist!" He gave her that million dollar smile again and she just couldn't refuse. So she nodded and smiled in gratitude.

"Hey, Alice, can you watch the front desk? I won't be a minute," he shouted into the back office.

"Sure thing, Jazz," came Alice's cheerful reply.

Isabella peeked in the door as they passed on the way to her room. She caught a quick glimpse of a dark-haired imp-like creature, laying down the law to a tall, slender red-headed guy. He was leaning against a door with his hands in his pockets; he had his head and shoulders slumped down. Isabella noted that he looked remarkably like a scolded puppy.

"...I mean c'mon, Edward, would it kill you to call them once in a while? They worry about you, you know that. I just think it's really selfish and frankly..."

Isabella stopped listening to what Alice was saying when this Edward character looked up suddenly and locked eyes with her. She was momentarily taken aback by his deep green eyes but recovered quickly, averting her eyes and feeling a blush flare across her pale skin. He had looked furious, of course - who wouldn't be furious to find some stranger eavesdropping on their conversation? She scurried along behind Jasper trying to catch up with him.

"So this is you," Jasper stated as they arrived outside Isabella's new home for the next three days. "Breakfast is between 7:00AM and 10:00AM. The washrooms are two doors down on the right, and if you need anything at all, just come up to the front desk." He finished his well-rehearsed speech with a flourish.

"Grand, thanks very much. I'll definitely do that." Isabella smiled, taking her case back from him.

"Okay, well, I'll let you get settled. Enjoy your stay." He bowed his head a little, suggesting that if he'd been wearing a hat he would have tipped it.

Isabella closed the door behind her, negotiating her way around a minefield of suitcases, shoes and underwear. Clearly her temporary roommates had gotten too comfortable with having a room to themselves. After she'd made up her bed and tidied her suitcase and backpack under her bed, she decided to take a nap. As she lay on the stiff mattress, where so many others had lain before her, she made a mental list of fun things to do the next day. She'd take a walk around Central Park and maybe visit the MOMA in the afternoon. She'd wait for her jet lag had faded before starting her job and apartment hunt. Isabella soon fell into a dreamless sleep, for what was there to dream of now that she had arrived, in a city full of promise.

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><p>AN: Hi everyone, thanks for reading :) This is my first story here so let me know what you think...


	2. Chapter 2

After a quick breakfast Isabella decided to explore her new city. As she walked out the front door of _Whitlock's International Hostel_ she stopped on the sidewalk and took a deep breath, she was finally here. She still couldn't quite believe that she'd made it. Well she'd made it _to_ New York, now she would try to make it _in_ New York. Big difference, huge! But she would worry about that tomorrow, today was all about enjoying some of what the Big Apple had to offer. First stop? The Museum of Modern Art.

Isabella arrived a the MOMA sooner then she had expected, she enjoyed wandering from one exhibition to the next soaking in the art. Modern art always had a strange effect on her, she never pretended to understand all of it but she was always left with a strong sense that it was changing her in some way. Once, back in Dublin she'd seen a piece that consisted of cracked and broken side mirrors from cars all arranged in front of some projectors stacked on top of each other. The light from the projectors reflected off the mirrors creating the most amazing pattern on the wall. It was stunning, the reflection felt so natural almost ancient and yet the hum of the projectors was industrial a constant reminder of modernity – a fantastic contradiction.

She moved onto the next room, in it were a series of photographs of soldiers and images of war. As she examines the face of a young solider, crouched down in a trench, hugging a machine gun she had a sudden memory.

She is no more then 6 or 7 years old in her parents car on the way to Belfast. As they come up to the border she mentally notes what she sees. There is a barrier blocking the road, spiky chains are thrown in front of the car incase drivers want a quick get away. There are five soldiers at the border control that day. Five soldiers. Five guns. It's 1993 and still dangerous in Northern Ireland, but it's amazing how quickly these things become familiar. We convince ourselves it won't happen when we're there, no bombs will go off today, not when we're there.

She sits up on her knees and leans against the window to get a better view. Their faces are angry, she thinks. Angry but a bit sad too. Her father rolls down the window as one of the soldiers approaches the car. His voice is fast and loud, Isabella can't make out everything that he's saying just bits and pieces – Name. Business. Republic. Her father answers, his voice is different when he speaks to the soldier, not soft and happy anymore. Charlie Swan is worried but Isabella is too young to understand this.

She looks out the window at the grey sky and the steep green hills, she notices something moving in the corner of her eye. It's in the bushes near the roots at the side of the road, maybe it's a rabbit or a puppy. Maybe her father will let her keep it. She looks closely and tries not to breath, so as to avoid fogging up the window. Then she sees it clearly. When she sees it she lets out the breath she was holding thus fogging up the window, she uses her sleeve to wipe it away. There it is again, a man – a soldier. He is laying in the bushes close to the roots, hugging a machine gun. He is hiding she thinks, he could shoot us and then they'd talk about it on the radio.

She tunes back in to the conversation her father and the soldier are having. Everything is fine, the barrier is lifted, the spiky chains are pulled away and their car is waved through. As they passed through the border Isabella looked out the back window as the soldiers got smaller and smaller. Six soldiers, six guns. The memories fade and Isabella shudders, feeling her arms break into goose flesh. It's funny the things people remember.

She suddenly felt like she was being watched, she turned around and saw a tall man leaning in the doorway. It was the guy from the hostel – Edward, she recalled. He continued to stare at her, like the last time she was the one who broke eye contact. She glanced back up quickly and she caught him smirking and shaking his head as he walked away. Isabella felt uncomfortable like she was being teased, a childhood spent hiding from bullies will cause a degree of paranoia that is almost impossible to shake later in life. She looked around the room, a small boy had hurt himself somehow and was been tended to by his mother. Isabella feels her heart lurch with a sudden urge to be held by her own mother. Maybe it is because she's 3,000 miles away from home and being stalked by some freaky ginger, but at this moment Isabella wants to go home.

Isabella left the MOMA shortly after her "encounter" with Edward. It had put her in some what of a bad mood. She tried to shake the unpleasant feeling his staring had left her with. She decided to take a walk around Central Park, hoping it would clear her head and lift her spirits. She decided to sit on the grass for a while and just relax, she watched the birds scatter as a cat sauntered by. She watched with envy as numerous joggers passed without a jiggle or wobble between them. People put so much effort into maintaining a "perfect" body. _Pfft, I'd rather be fat, _she thought. But she knows she isn't fat, her stomach and arms are toned from her yoga classes but she does have curves. Curves that she is quite proud of!

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed that one of the joggers was coming towards her. _Oh God_ she thought, _maybe she's trying to recruit me into her jogging cult... _

'Hi!' the jogger chirped, 'I thought I recognised you...'

'...Hi,' Isabella said cautiously.

'I'm Alice, I saw you checking into the hostel last night,' Alice explained.

'Oh, yes of course. Hi, I'm Isabella. It's nice to meet you.' Isabella said offering her hand suddenly remembering her pixie-like features.

'Nice to meet you too Isabella!' Alice said shaking Isabella's hand happily. 'So how are you liking New York?'

'Oh I love it!' Isabella finds herself gushing uncharacteristically. 'I visited the MOMA this morning, it's really lovely.'

'It is, isn't it? I try to go there as often as I can but you know how it is, you never really appreciate everything your own city has to offer.' Alice said moving to sit down beside Isabella. 'Hey, are you Irish? I love your accent!'

'Yeah, I am.' Isabella replied coyly, she was never sure how to react to that compliment.

'Cool, how long are you staying?' Alice asked smiling, and looking remarkably well put together for someone who was just out for a jog.

'Well, I plan to stay at the hostel for about four nights and then I'll look for somewhere more permanent. But I hope to stay here for as long as I can. I'll definitely be here for a year and sure we'll see what happens after that I suppose.' Isabella said, noting that she was being very open with this Alice person whom she had just met. But it felt right, like they'd been friends in another life and were finally meeting again. Isabella was embarrassed by her thoughts but couldn't help herself thinking, _I'm so glad I've found you again._

They talked for about two hours – with Alice's jog long forgotten, about everything from music to boys to jobs. It was a peaceful and easy conversation, one which Isabella thoroughly enjoyed.

'So how long have you and Jasper been dating?' Isabella asked, while on the subject of boys.

'Oh about a year and a half,' Alice said grinning 'He's great, I mean we had a rocky start because the business was going through to some rough times but I think it made us stronger'

'Thats understandable, you're probably the better for it.' Isabella nodded.

'I think so too. What about you? Are you seeing anyone?' Alice inquired.

'No, not right now.' Isabella answered pulling at the pieces of grass around her shoes. 'I mean I just arrived here obviously, and there's nobody waiting for me at home so...'

'Well I'm sure you won't be single for long.' Alice said nudging her and winking. Isabella smiled hoping that her new friend would be proven right.

'So what do you do?' Isabella asked changing the subject.

'I own a bakery,' Alice said while sitting up a little more proudly, '_Brandon's Bakery, _Brandon is my last name.' She clarified 'A lot of people come in looking for some guy named Brandon, they seem shocked when they find me!' She giggled, her cropped black hair swaying slightly with the tilt of her head.

'Wow that's amazing!' Isabella said, genuinely impressed. 'How long have you been in business?'

'Almost two years. It's the most important thing in my life, I'm just so passionate about it. I love to bake and be creative, my business partner Rose is more practical and business minded she takes care of the financial side of things. She loves it, she's a born leader and we make a great team - so it's perfect for us.' Alice said smiling. 'Urgh, listen to me! I can't help myself once I get started about that bakery I could talk all day. What sort of work are you looking for?' Alice asked.

'Well I would love to work in publishing, I was an editor back home before the publishing house I worked for went bust.' Isabella said, feeling a bit sad remembering the day when her boss told her there was nothing he could do and he was sorry. _Me too_, she remembered thinking. 'But I know thats a long shot. I mean it's all about who you know, and well I don't really know anybody here.' Isabella laughed slightly.

'Not true, you know me! And I have some good news for you.' Alice stated 'We're holding a book launch at the bakery on Friday night. You should come I'll introduce you to some of the publishing folks, get you some connections.' She said winking at Isabella.

'Really?' Isabella was stunned. She didn't want it to seem as though she was taking advantage of this budding friendship but she couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. Also she wanted to spend some more time with Alice, it seemed like a win win situation and after all she didn't have anything to lose.

'Of course _really_!' Alice said laughing 'I wouldn't have offered otherwise. The author is so nice, Angela Weber, she has written this awesome cupcake recipe book. Since I donated some of my recipes to her for the book and helped her with some of her originals, she wanted to have the launch at our store. She's a good friend of mine, and I've gotten to know a lot of the folks who work at Kangaroo Press, they're her publishers. Super nice people and I'm sure they'll be able to put you in contact with the right people.' Alice said looking exceedingly pleased with herself.

'Alice I really don't know what to say, other then thank you so much and yes of course I'd love to come.' Isabella said smiling gratefully at Alice.

'Well that's settled then, Jasper will be coming too so you guys can go together from the hostel, it isn't far.' Alice had it all organised and within moments Isabella knew who she would arrive with, what she should wear and how best to do her hair.

'Oh my God, would you look at the time!' Alice gasped jumping to her feet. 'I was supposed to meet Rose 15 minutes ago, she'll be furious! I'd better go.' Alice said as she brushed the grass from her leggings 'So I'll see you Friday then?'

'Yes, definitely.' Isabella said 'Oh and Alice I was just wondering, who was that red haired guy you were talking to last night when I saw you at the hostel?'

Alice stopped what she was doing suddenly forgetting that she was in a rush 'Oh you noticed him too.' She said more to herself than to Isabella. 'That was Edward, my cousin. He's...uh...quite the character. You'll meet him on Friday at the launch.'

'Oh, well grand. No big deal, I was just wondering seeing as you hadn't mentioned him and well, yeah great I'll see you on Friday then. I'm really looking forward to it.' _Shut up!_ Isabella's brain was screaming as her mouth kept motoring on. All the while Alice was looking at Isabella, smiling knowingly at her. Isabella exhaled when she finally stopped talking. _Why are you acting like this?_ She thought to herself. _You don't like him remember!_

'Yeah, see you Friday,' she winked, 'I can't wait either, I'm so excited for you! I just know this will lead to so many great things for you. Trust me on this, I'm never wrong.' Alice stated seriously, though Isabella couldn't tell if she meant it or not. So she just nodded and smiled.

As Alice was walking away she stopped and turned back to face Isabella, 'I'm really glad I bumped into Isabella.' She said smiling kindly 'I think we're going to be great friends' She nodded decidedly.

'Me too Alice.' Isabella replied as her only friend in New York skipped away.

Isabella spent the rest of the day exploring Central Park and the surrounding area, practicing the conversations she anticipated might happen at the launch on Friday and wondering what she would make of this Edward fellow once they were properly introduced.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**

**Hi everyone, I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has read and favorited my story, it really means a lot to me. Also special thanks to all those who have reviewed :)**

**So anyway, sorry for the delay! Here's chapter 3, let me know what you think. Enjoy!**

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><p>Isabella fiddled with the strap of her dress, was a dress the right thing to wear to a book launch? The hell if she knew! But one thing she was sure of was that dressing out of a suitcase in a room which one shared with three strangers was not an ideal situation to be in. <em>I really need to find a place to live<em>, she thought dejectedly.

It was Friday morning and the book launch was being held that evening at Alice's bakery, Isabella was feeling nervous. In an attempt to calm her nerves she went downstairs to the common room, where she planned to check out the "library" and maybe get lost in a book for a few hours. As she browsed the titles of the well worn books before her, she felt a presence behind her.

"Looking for something specific?'"She recognized Jasper's voice immediately.

"No not really just something to keep me occupied for a while." She answered.

"I see...well how about this?" He said handing her a copy of _One Day_.

"Oh, thanks. Great suggestion I've been meaning to read this for a while. I hear they're making it into a film soon. What?" She said looking puzzled as he laughed.

"Filum." He said mimicking her accent while giggling. "Sorry I'm just glad to not be the only one who 'talks funny' around here anymore," he said winking.

"Glad to be of service," she said in her best Southern accent which left a lot to be desired. Jasper threw his head back a bit and laughed loudly.

"Oh, you're going to fit right in." He said genuinely. Isabella was a bit thrown by his comment, the bluntness reminded her of Alice. She concluded that they were a fantastic match.

"So, Alice tells me you're coming to the launch with me tonight?" He said smiling.

"Yes, I'm really looking forward to it." She said smiling. "I hope you don't mind me tagging along..." She said trailing off at the end not quite sure where to go form there.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm only too happy to help out a lovely Irish lass!" He teased while nudging her lightly. "I've got to get back to work, I'll meet you by the front desk at about 6.30?"

"Sounds good, I'll see you then." She said nodding.

She settled down into a sagging armchair by the window, almost immediately she became lost in the written word.

Before she knew it it was 6.00pm and she was rushing around her room trying to make herself look presentable, much to the amusement of her temporary roommates. As 6.30pm drew ever closer she decided that her dark wash skinny jeans, heels, and a black fitted blazer with a white top underneath would have to do. Her hair was unkempt as usual but she didn't have time to tackle the beast that was her hair, she walked towards the lobby where Jasper was waiting her.

"Hi," she said running her fingers through the front of her hair nervously, "sorry I hope I'm not delaying you. I wasn't sure what to wear to a book launch, I've never been to one before."

"Don't worry about it, I've never been to one either. But I think we look great!" He said grinning and offering her his arm. Isabella linked Jasper's arm with a flourish, laughing along with him. They chatted easily on the short walk to the subway, Isabella found that she was completely at ease in his company. It was heart warming to feel that she now had two friends in this new place. Being so far away from home had her miss familiar faces, she was more than happy to have some friends to hang out with.

They shortly arrived at a quaint little bakery, Alice had clearly modeled her store front on traditional French bakeries. The storefront was black with "Brandon's Bakery" in elegant gold letters. The window display was quaint and classy.

Jasper and Isabella entered the lively bakery just in time - Angela, the author was just about to give her speech. Angela thanked Alice numerous times during her speech and presented her with her own special signed copy, it was clear that they shared a mutual admiration. After the speeches the crowd were instructed to mingle and of course to enjoy the delicious cakes.

The wine was flowing and trays of cupcakes and pastries covered every available surface. As the night wore on Isabella talked to more and more people from every walk of life, but no publishers! They were being monopolized, unsurprisingly.

She was standing alone now, for the first time that night. Jasper had gone to find Alice and she had assured him that she'd be alright on her own for a bit. Besides Isabella was enjoying people watching. She was shaken from her solitude when a deep voice came from behind her.

"Hello, I'm Edward Masen." She turned around to find the man she had seen talking to Alice at the hostel, she remembered his rust colored hair and green eyes. He was smiling cockily at her, in such a way that gave her butterflies. Which irritated her because she wasn't the kind of girl that got butterflies when a boy smiled at her. She decided to adopt an aloof attitude, that'd put him in his place.

"Hi, I'm Isabella. It's nice to meet you." She said with mock confidence, she shook his hand and tried to ignore the tingling feel she felt even after they had broken apart.

"Nice to meet you Isabella." He said as he pushed his hands into his pockets. "So, how do you know Angela?" He asked still maintaining eye contact.

"Oh I don't really, I just met her tonight, um Alice invited me...we're friends."

"Oh you are? She didn't mention that." He said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I'm staying at Jasper's hostel. They're really cool people." Isabella said.

"Where are you from?" Edward asked, Isabella was quite taken aback by his topic jumping but she decided to just go with it.

"I'm from Ireland, I've actually just moved here this week." She said still trying to hold her own in the presence of this handsome guy.

"Ah cool...you're accent is cute." He said, breaking eye contact for the first time.

"Thanks." She whispered awkwardly.

Edward cleared his throat and took a swig of his beer. "So, how long will you be staying in New York?" Edward asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Well, that depends really. I'm not sure." Isabella still felt uncomfortable with all these questions.

"Oh, ok...and what do you- " Edward started to ask but was suddenly interrupted by a very excited Alice.

"There you are Isabella! I've been looking for you, I want to introduce you to Aro from the publishing house." She said excitedly, while handing Isabella a another glass of wine and looking pointedly at Edward.

"Sure, of course." Isabella said feeling momentarily flustered. "Edward it was nice talking to you." She said craning her neck around as Alice dragged her away. He simply raised his beer bottle and smiled, tight lipped and clearly annoyed. Isabella looked away hoping they'd get the chance to continue their odd and uncomfortable conversation. But she didn't have time to dwell on that because before she knew it she was standing in front of Aro, the Commissioning Editor of Koala Publishing.

"Aro, this is Isabella the girl I was telling you about." Alice said triumphantly.

"Ah, yes of course. Isabella, how nice to meet you." He said regally extending his hand to her.

"Nice to meet you too. This is a great launch, the book looks great too." Isabella gushed.

"Yes it's a wonderful book and you're quite right tonight is going really well. I'm very pleased." He said taking a sip of his wine while openly studying Isabella.

"So Aro as I was telling you Isabella worked as an Editor in Ireland." Alice said grinning and nodding at Isabella to continue.

"Yes so you were saying. Well I really must go I have so many people to talk to you know how it is. Lovely to meet you Isabella." And with that he was gone.

"Oh, Isabella I'm sorry. I thought he'd have more time to talk to you and maybe find a position for you or something." Alice looked heartbroken, it was really quite endearing.

"Alice don't worry about it. I didn't expect him to offer me a job on the spot. This is still a great place to mingle and get to know people in publishing. So don't beat yourself up about it. Really I'm so grateful that you invited me here." Isabella said putting her arm around Alice reassuringly.

"Well I suppose getting to talk to Aro at all is very difficult. I'm still disappointed though!" Alice huffed. "But you're right you can still mingle and get these book folks talking about you!" Her eyes were sparkling again.

"Exactly, that's what I intend to do." Isabella said decisively.

"Great! Oh I'm sorry to abandon you here but I really have to see what's going on in the kitchen or I may go mad." Alice said as she scurried away. Isabella laughed at her comment but knew she probably wasn't joking.

As soon as Alice had left Isabella's eyes scanned the room until she found Edward, he was surrounded by four bimbos all vying for his attention. He looked bored and this made Isabella inexplicably happy. He looked around at her and smiled, but his smile faded quickly. At the same time Isabella felt a hand on the small of her back. As she turned around she was met with a tall, blond, rugged looking man.

"Hi, I'm James." His voice dripped with arrogance.

"I'm Isabella." She said moving so that his hand was no longer on her back. Men have an annoying habit of trying to steer women around from the small of their back's.

"Hot name, can I call you Issy?" James said.

"Uh..." Isabella never got a chance to answer because James just kept on talking.

"So, what brings you to Angela's launch, Issy?" He asked.

"I'm friends with Alice, she owns the bakery." Isabella said while desperately looking for a way out of the conversation.

"Cool. I'm a writer." James said.

_Did I ask? _Isabella thought as she internally rolled her eyes.

"That's nice." Isabella smiled trying to seem polite but uninterested.

"Yeah, I write mainly fiction but some poems too." He said sounding like he was reciting a well rehearsed monologue. "That's why I came here, to meet Aro and get myself published." He had been moving progressively closer to her throughout the conversation and she was now backed into a corner.

"Ok, well good luck with that. Can I just get by you there, I should really find Alice-"

Before she could continue her attempt to get away from James, he was suddenly removed from her path by a rather unhappy looking Edward.

"Hey! Watch it bro! What's your problem?" James shouted, luckily there was a band playing some lively song at the time so not many people noticed the altercation.

"You seemed to be crowding her that's all. I thought I'd suggest you give her some space." Edward said squaring up to James.

"Look it's fine, let's just leave it now. We don't want to ruin Angela's night by making a scene." Isabella pleaded but neither of them would back down first.

"Issy and I were just talking. No big deal." James said rolling his eyes and backing away slightly.

"Bella." Edward said grabbing Isabella's attention.

"What?" James asked, clearly confused and bored now.

"Her name is Bella, not Issy. She's Bella." He said looking Isabella straight in the eye.

"Whatever..." James said dismissively and walked away.

She felt locked into Edward's gaze, it was almost uncomfortable in it's intensity. But this time she didn't want to look away. She held his gaze until he smiled slightly, bowed his head and walked away.

Just then Alice came rushing over, she grabbed Edward's sleeve as he walked passed and appeared to be demanding to know what was going on. Isabella could tell he felt guilty because of whatever Alice was saying, he was rubbing the back of his neck and nodding in agreement with her. With that she threw her arms in the air and smacked him on the shoulder. It obviously didn't hurt him but he clearly feared her wrath. He skulked away into the kitchen and out back, presumably. Alice then came marching over to Isabella.

"Are you ok?" She asked while looking Isabella up and down.

"Yes of course, I'm fine. I hope that didn't cause too much disturbance. I tried to stop them but-" Isabella explained but was cut off by Alice.

"Oh shush, it wasn't your fault. Edward just...well he gets angry sometimes. It's very annoying, but he's completely harmless!" She said smiling sadly. "Ok enough of that, come on I have more people I want to introduce you to!" And with that Isabella was whisked away and introduced to so many people it made her head spin.

Having finally escaped Alice who had been distracted by a "frosting emergency", Bella decided to go out the back door for some fresh air. Tonight had been wonderful, she felt so relaxed with these people and even if she hadn't gotten a job out of it she'd made some good contacts.

As she pushed her way through the heavy door at the back of the kitchen that led into a dark alley outside she noticed a tall figure leaning against the wall. He hadn't noticed her yet so she took the opportunity to watch him. She watched the tip of his cigarette glow an angry orange as he took a drag. She let the door slam shut behind her, he jerked his head around looking for the source of the noise. She smiled at him. He was shocked at first but he recovered quickly and smiled in return.

She moved towards him and leaned against the opposite wall of the narrow alley.

"Nice night." She said softly.

"Yeah, it's not too cold." He said feeling a bit weird talking about the weather.

"Haha, no I meant the party...I mean the launch. It's been a good night." She clarified.

"Oh, yeah sure. It's not really my scene. You know everyone trying to impress each other...sometimes is feels really fake." He said taking another drag of his cigarette. Bella watched the plumes of smoke caress his lips as he exhaled. She found herself wondering what they felt like, she imagined they would be soft. She felt her face heat slightly as her mind wandered.

"Yeah I see what you mean but they seem nice enough..." She said trailing off and feeling suddenly shy.

"You want a smoke?" He asked extending the packet in her direction.

"Oh, no thanks. I don't smoke." She said automatically. He looked puzzled as if he was wondering why she had come out here if not for a cigarette. Bella read his expression and answered, "I just came out here for some air..."

"Shit, sorry I'll put this out..." He said quickly while throwing the cigarette butt to the ground and stomping it out. Bella was shocked at the suddenness of his actions.

"You didn't have to, I didn't mean for you to put it out. I just meant I don't smoke..." She knew she was rambling now and she blushed accordingly.

"No, don't worry about it. It's a horrible habit. I'm trying to quit." He said smiling at her with his head slightly stooped in that cute way she'd become familiar with.

There was a silence then that was oddly comfortable for them both, they were both acutely aware that they were more uncomfortable when fumbling over words in conversation.

"Look I'm sorry if I ruined your night you know earlier...when you were talking to that guy James...he's just...he's not a nice guy, Bella. And you seem like a really good person, I know I've just met you but I'm a good judge of character and I know you're good. So I just wanted to...I don't know warn you? No not warn, that's not the right word, just tell you that maybe you should-"

"Everyone at home calls me Bella." She said cutting him off mid sentence but the truth was she had no interest in James and what was the point in talking about it? This was more important.

Edward stood silent and unmoving for a few seconds before letting out a long breath.

"Well, it suits you." He said, smiling when he noticed her blush.

"I know that I told Jasper my name was Isabella but that was just for signing in, I thought I should use my full name. And then I guess I just started introducing myself as Isabella, I mean it's still my name so what does it matter right? But anyone who knows me well calls me Bella." She said feeling shy again.

"You're Bella," he shrugged. "I knew it when I saw you that first time in the lobby. I looked at the book and saw your name. But I knew you were Bella. That sounds really weird, doesn't it?" He said laughing awkwardly. His hands were in his pockets again and he was hunching his shoulders. Bella smiled and shook her head, she took a moment to get her voice back – between his kind words and talk of home she was feeling a bit choked up.

"No." She said simply. "Well, I better get back inside. I think Jasper wants to get back to the hostel soon." She said making a move towards the door. Edward did a little sprint around her so he could open the door for her.

"Ok. Good night Bella." He said as he held the heavy door open for her.

"Good night Edward." She said looking up at him through thick eyelashes, she almost felt light headed as she looked up into his green eyes. She hadn't noticed until now how tall he was or how broad he shoulders were. She had to pull herself away from his gaze, she floated back into the party which was dying down now. She saw Jasper getting their coats, she said goodbye to everyone making sure to thank Alice for all her help and wonderful hosting.

As Bella lay in bed that night she couldn't help but smile at the nights events. She'd met some people who could help her get a job and she was sure she'd made some wonderful friends. But more importantly she was Bella again and she couldn't have been happier.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading...<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

Bella sat in the breakfast room of the hostel, that had become her home over the last few days. She was sipping on her Earl Grey tea, the closet thing she could get to 'real' tea. She was really beginning to feel at home here, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. She needed to find her own place, a real apartment – not a place that charged by the night.

"Morning, Bella!" Jasper said cheerily.

"Good morning Jasper." Bella replied, rising her tea cup to him as he passed.

He smiled and kept going about his morning duties. She smiled to herself as she looked out the window, wondering what she should wear later for lunch with Rose and Alice.

Bella was a bit nervous about this lunch. She didn't know Rose very well, she hadn't been terribly impressed with her when she'd first encountered Rose just over a week ago. She decided to try to keep an open mind, after all she needed to meet new people. It wasn't easy moving to a completely new country, and cultivating a new circle of friends was definitely going to help her feel more at home. So she finished straightening her hair and took one last look in the mirror before leaving her room. She'd moved into one of the double rooms at the hostel, Jasper had offered her a discounted rate since she'd been staying there for so long. It had taken her a while to find somewhere to live, and she was starting to feel a little discouraged.

She arrived at the restaurant where they were meeting only to find Alice and Rose waiting for her on the patio.

"There she is!" Bella could hear Alice announcing her arrival to everyone within earshot.

"Hi Bella, how are you?" Alice asked as she hugged Bella.

"Hi Alice. I'm very well, thanks. How are you?" Bella held Alice at arms length looking her over, "Alice you look amazing!" She laughed. "But it's just lunch, I feel under dressed!"

Alice laughed and twirled in jest. Bella looked at Rose who was sipping her coke and rolling her eyes at Alice.

"Runway models have been known to feel under dressed around Alice." Rose quipped, taking another sip of her drink.

"Well, I think we _all_ look fabulous." Alice said as she grabbed Bella's hand and moved them both over to the table where Rose sat.

"Bella this is Rose, Rose is an English language teacher. Rose this is Bella, Bella just moved here from _Ireland_." Alice said with emphasis. Bella smiled at Alice's perfect introduction. _They __must have taught her that at finishing school_, Bella thought to herself.

"Yes, I think I remember you from Jasper's place. Nice to finally meet you properly." Rose smiled, extending her hand.

"You too." Bella said, shaking Rose's hand briefly. She was slightly taken a back by the change in Rose's attitude; although she only encountered her once the experience had been neither pleasant nor endearing. She reminded herself that she had vowed to keep an open mind about Rose.

Alice made pleasant conversation until their food arrived. Bella noted that she was the perfect socialite – she knew when to change topics, when to offer information about her companions. Bella admired Alice's ease in social situations. Thanks to Alice both Rose and Bella felt remarkably comfortable in each other's company. Conversation was flowing easily and the girls were finding a lot of common ground.

"So, Alice how did the book launch go? I'm sorry I couldn't make it." Rose said.

"It went perfectly. Lots of exposure for the bakery and the book sold really well! It was a resounding success." Alice smiled triumphantly. "Did you enjoy it Bella?"

"Oh yeah, I had a great time. Thanks for inviting me." She said.

"I think Aro liked you," she said smiling.

"Alice we spoke for all of two minutes, I don't think he'd even remember my name" Bella said ruefully.

Alice immediately looked wounded on Bella's behalf.

"But no worries, I'll find something." Bella offered hoping to change the subject soon. "I actually saw a few interesting openings online, so I've got options don't you worry!" Bella said, before taking a long gulp of her wine.

"Oh, good!" Alice clapped her hands happily, Bella noted, with amusement, her new friend's very sudden mood changes.

"You can put my address on your resume, it would probably look odd if you listed a hostel as an address." Alice said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The truth was Bella hadn't thought of that. She intended to send her resume, of course, but hadn't quite thought as far as what to write _on_ her resume. She hadn't even formatted her old CV into an American resume yet. She suddenly felt overwhelmed at the thoughts of how much she had to do, before she could even think of applying. But in the midst of all her panic and confusion she felt touched by Alice's offer.

"Thanks, Alice." She said shyly, she'd never been very good at accepting other people's help but she knew she needed it. Alice smiled and rubbed Bella's arm in an almost maternal way.

"Where the hell is my garlic beard?" Rose half shouted, to nobody in particular – but obviously addressing the waiter. "I mean really? Are they growing the garlic out back or something?"

Bella and Alice laughed, as the waiter scurried over with Rose's garlic bread.

"So Bella, have you had any luck with the apartment hunt?" Rose enquired as she tucked into her long awaited garlic bread.

"No, not yet. I viewed one or two but they were all very expensive." Bella replied.

"Well, I might have an interesting proposition for you." Rose said cryptically.

"What's that?" Bella asked.

"Well a colleague of mine, Lauren, is looking for a roommate. I've never been to the apartment but she's always raving about it. If she's telling me the truth, the kitchen work tops are stunning and the bathroom tiles will reduce you to tears."

"Well then I'd love to see it." Bella said, as she laughed along with Alice.

"Great I'll set it up now." Rose said.

"Oh, okay. That'd be great. If you're sure you don't mind?" Bella said as Rose rifled through her purse looking for her cell phone.

"Why would I mind?" Rose asked rhetorically while she dialed the number. "It's really not a problem Bella, you need an apartment and she needs a roommate. Everyone wins. I'll be back in two minutes." She said.

Bella watched as Rose strode confidently across the restaurant, out onto the patio. She was suddenly struck by how her new group of friends were all calling her Bella now. Everyone had called her called Isabella except Edward. He'd been the one to make such a big deal out of calling her Bella.

_ They really have taken to the new nickname very fast_, Bella thought to herself, _we haven't even spent that much time together_.

She came to the conclusion that Edward must have been talking about her to the others. Perhaps they'd become accustomed to hearing him call her Bella. She smiled to herself at the thought. Then she felt a bit self conscious, suddenly embarrassed by her childish thoughts. She felt like a teenager. They'd only spoken briefly and she was already mooning over him.

"She's so funny." Alice giggled, snapping Bella out of her thoughts.

"Yes, she is. I really like her." Bella said nodding.

"She's a great friend, she's not a fickle person. If she likes you she'll do anything for you, but if she doesn't then she has no time for you." Alice said, her admiration for Rose was clear.

"I respect that. I like to know where I stand with people. Life is short after all." Bella said.

"She obviously likes you though. She wouldn't bother making the call otherwise."

Bella smiled, "I hope so. Hey I wanted to say thank you for taking me under your wing, I'm really glad I met you."

"Don't mention it, Bella." Alice said. "We like having you around."

At that moment Rose came back, their waiter looked a little nervous when he saw her coming.

"Done." Rose said triumphantly as she sat back into her seat. "Are you free at four o'clock to check it out?"

"Uh … yes of course! Thank you so much." Bella said.

"Great I'll write the address down for you. The apartment sounds great, but I should tell you Lauren is a little odd. She's got a good heart but she takes a little getting used to." Rose said.

"Well we don't need to be best friends, I just need somewhere to live." Bella said, taking the address from Rose.

"Exactly." Alice agreed. "So, it's Friday ladies. Plans for this evening?" Alice said with a grin.

"I am dying for a good night on the town." Rose said. "How about drinks at O'Hara's and then that new club?"

"The Underground? I've been wanting to go there for so long" Alice said. "Bella, you in?"

"Definitely, I'd love to. What time are you heading out at?" She asked.

"How about nine o'clock?" Alice suggested.

"Sounds good, hey can this be a girls' night? I really need just a girly night out. Without the boys you know?" Rose said.

"Sure, sure" Alice said.

"Great, look this has been great but I really need to go. I've a class in fifteen minutes." Rose said. "Bella here's my number, text me and let me know how the viewing with Lauren goes."

"I will, thanks again Rose." Bella said, accepting the card Rose handed her. "I better go too, I need to get ready for this viewing, I want to make myself presentable."

"Okay, guys why don't we get ready in my apartment and then go from there?" Alice said.

"Sounds awesome, I'll text you guys later." Rose said on her way out the door.

The girls parted ways and Bella made her way back to the hostel to get ready for the viewing in a few hours.

Bella arrived at Lauren's apartment just before four o'clock, she checked the address Rose had given her one more time and when she was sure she was in the right place she made her way into the building. She buzzed number 3T and waited for Lauren to answer.

"Yeah?" Came a crackly voice.

"Hi, it's Isabella. Rose's friend? I'm here to view the room?" Bella explained.

"Oh, yeah, yeah sure. Come on up." Lauren said, followed by a loud buzz.

Bella made her way up the winding stairs of the old building that could be her new home. She felt a rush of hope, the stairway was nicely kept everyone seemed to keep their area of the hallway nice and tidy. _Always a good sign, _Bella thought to herself.

When Lauren opened the door, Bella noticed her blatantly sizing her up. Lauren looked Bella up and down, she seemed mildly annoyed by what she found. Bella decided the best strategy was to be extra nice.

"Hi Lauren, it's really nice to meet you. I'm Isabella." She said, extending her hand.

"Hi." Lauren said, shortly. "So, come in I guess." She sighed as she shook Bella's hand limply. Bella was not ashamed to admit that she judged a person's character on the strength of their handshake. So far, Lauren was not doing well.

"Wow!" Bella enthused. "This a really nice place!"

Lauren seemed to soften at this.

"Yes, well I've done a lot of renovations course. I tore out the old bathroom, it was disgusting and these tiles are from Sicily. That's in Italy, well just off the coast actually..."

Bella let Lauren's voice fade into the ether as she took in the rest of the apartment. Lauren scurried around after Bella as she moved from room to room. Lauren's babble registered somewhere in the back of Bella's mind. She focused on the great views, the good sized rooms and the fact that the bedrooms were at separate ends of the apartment. With the kitchen, living room and bathroom in the between and Bella decided it was perfect.

"I'll take it." Bella said turing to a rather dumbstruck Lauren.

"Oh...really? That's awesome! I'm so glad, I have the lease all ready." Lauren said as she rummaged through a drawer in the living room. As she bent over to reach into the very back of the drawer her top started to ride up and not only was Bella treated to a view of Lauren's thong but also her tramp stamp. _Delightful_, Bella thought to herself.

Not forty minutes later and the lease was signed. Bella was due to move in on Monday, Lauren was going to be in work so she gave Bella a key to let herself in.

"So you can move your stuff in, the room has basic furnishings but nothing fancy you'll want your own stuff in there, I guess." Lauren said.

_Stuff_, Bella thought, _shit I have to get some stuff!_

"Of course, well I guess I'll see you Monday night then." Bella said smiling.

"Yup, see you then roomie!" Lauren shouted after Bella as she walked down the corridor.

Bella felt herself cringe, not only at how chirpy Lauren sounded but also by the term 'roomie'. Lauren wasn't been sarcastic and that was the only way Bella would accept the word 'roomie'.

_Dear God give me strength_, Bella thought.

"Can't wait … roomie?" Bella said with trepidation.

_What have I gotten myself into?_ She wondered.

"TEQUILA!" The girls shouted in unison before downing their respective shots. The shots were followed by a collective "Urrrrgh."

The were leaning up against the bar at O'Hara's, an 'Irish' bar that Bella was very amused by.

"Why are there bagpipes over there?" She asked indignantly. "They're Scottish not Irish. I think this is a 'Celtic' bar, not necessarily an 'Irish' one … that's false advertising, you'd wanna be careful about that sort of thing, Brian." Bella said to the bartender.

"I told you, my name is Steven." He said sniggering at her.

"Well make sure you tell Brian, Steven." Bella said seriously. "Consistency is key, you tell him that."

"Who's Brian?" Steven said to nobody in particular.

Rose and Alice dissolved into giggles, as Bella continued to scrutinize the bar for 'authenticity.' She wasn't impressed, but thankfully Bella was a happy drunk so everyone just found her remarks funny.

They'd been at the bar for about an hour and a half, and were feeling quite merry at this point. They'd decided to have one more round before leaving for the club.

"Who are you texting?" Rose demanded suddenly, having noticed Alice fidgeting with her phone. "It better not be Jasper"

Bella gasped, "Uh oh! He's a boy, Alice that's against the rules!"

"It's not Jasper!" Alice said coyly.

Bella and Rose didn't look convinced, Rose folded her arms and tried very hard to look sternly at Alice.

Alice just laughed at Rose's attempts, "Okay, okay I texted Jasper. But it was just a little one, and not an invitation. I _promise_."

"Mmm hmm, sure thing." Rose said. "You're breaking rule #1 of girls' night. Do you remember what rule #1 of girls night is?"

"The clue is in the name!" Bella giggled.

"Urgh, fine! I'm putting it away." Alice said as she threw her phone into her purse.

"Yay, girls' night!" Bella shouted.

"YAY!" Alice shouted along with her.

"Ready for The Underground?" Rose said grabbing her jacket.

"Born ready!" Alice declared.

They laughed as they piled into a taxi that took them the few blocks it would have taken them hours to walk so far in heels.

When they arrived at The Underground there was a long line to get in. Luckily Rose caught the eye of one of the bouncers and he waved them through. Rose gave him her best smile as she sashayed by him.

After they finished their first drink, Rose declared that it was time to dance. They walked onto the dance floor and merged with the sea of bodies that were already there. The people seemed to pulse and ripple as one. Bella loved the feeling of dancing in a club, when the atmosphere was good. It can turn sour so quickly you have to enjoy the harmony while it lasts.

Bella was rudely snapped out of her dance zone, by the feeling of someone pushing against her. She turned around to see what was happening. She was horrified to find some random guy grinding up against her. He grinned at her as he continued to push his crotch into her butt.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Bella shouted over the music.

"I … uhhh …" He didn't seem to know what he was doing. And as Bella shook her head and rolled her eyes he took the opportunity to run away, truly mortified.

Rose and Alice were laughing at Bella's reaction. Bella was still very bewildered by it all.

"Let's go to the bar." Bella said.

While they were waiting to be served Bella turned to Alice and said "What the hell was that? That creep was just rubbing himself against me!"

Alice shrugged, "It's just a guy thing, like a frat boy thing. You know how they are."

"No, no I don't know how they are. That was the single weirdest thing that has ever happened to me. I feel violated!" Bella declared.

The girls laughed at Bella's indignation. After many more shots and even more dancing Bella and Alice were very drunk. Rose was holding her own and trying to maintain order. Bella and Alice were having none of it.

"Okay, calm down ladies this is getting a little bit too 'Jersey Shore' for my liking." Rose said, as Bella and Alice tried to re-create the 'Mein Herr' number from _Cabaret. _

"Why am I always JWOWW when we have these Jersey Shore moments?" Rose asked as she helped Alice up off the floor.

All of a sudden Bella spotted a familiar mop of red hair in the crowd.

"The boys are here!" Alice shouted, throwing her arms in the air, almost hitting Rose in the face in the process.

"You were texting Jasper. _Saboteur!_" Rose said letting go of Alice's arm, leaving her to wobble around on her own.

"Hey Rosie" Emmet said wrapping an arm around her waist. "Can we crash your girls' night out?" He said nudging his nose into her hair.

Rose pouted for a moment and then conceded to Emmet's charms. Bella noticed Jasper and Edward a few feet away. Jasper seemed to be telling Edward something, he was gesturing while Edward was staring at Bella.

"Alice, your cousin is stalking me." Bella informed Alice matter-of-factly, not breaking eye contact with Edward once. "I won't press charges because I think that would be rude. But I should definitely tell him that I know."

"He's not stalking you, he's just a freak. I mean not a freak, just like a … uh … you know one of those." Alice said, not making any sense what so ever.

Bella looked back to where Edward and Jasper had been talking, Edward was now heading out to the smoking area and Jasper was walking towards Alice.

"Oh my god! Jasper is here!" Alice shouted as though it was a total surprise.

Jasper laughed and held her around the waist – partly out of affection and partly out of necessity.

Bella decided to leave the couples and find Edward. She found him leaning against the wall of the crowded smoking area, which was really just the alley next to the club. He looked up and seemed shocked to see her.

"Hello, stalker." Bella said childishly.

"What?" Edward's forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"I know you're following me. Following me like a big old stalker!" Bella had hoped for something more accusatory or cool to come out of her mouth but unfortunately it was not to be.

Edward smiled and the corners of his eyes creased. "I'm not stalking you. I promise." He said genuinely, "Alice texted Jasper and we were just hanging out at Emmett's apartment so we decided to come over."

"I saw you at the museum." She said out of the blue.

"Yeah? So did hundreds of other people." He retorted, not missing a beat. She could tell she was annoying him and suddenly felt self conscious about how drunk she was.

"I meant, I saw you staring at me at the museum, Mr. Stalky-stalk." Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she was being rude and stupid, but for now she was too drunk to care or notice.

Edward shuffled a bit, clearly unsure of what to say but still a bit amused.

"I was there just looking around, like I do every week," he said sighing, as if resigning himself to having to explain, "and then I saw you. You were looking at some painting, I don't even remember which one. But you were so focused on it. Then this kid came bursting into the room and started running around, screaming. His parents came running in after him, trying to catch him. After a few laps of the room, he finally skidded to a halt when he collided with an old man. The old guy started freaking out and swearing in Russian or something – eventually the parents managed to calm the old guy and the kid down and that's when you turned around. You didn't even notice that whole time, you were so absorbed in your thoughts. It was inspiring, or something. You managed to block out all the chaos that was happening around you." Edward said, looking everywhere but at Bella.

Bella felt uncomfortable, Edward's speech had made her feel really exposed somehow. She hadn't expected him to respond that way. It was so honest, she had no come back, no smart arse response. So she just stared at him. She suddenly really wants him to like her. She wants to touch his hair and his shoulders, she knows shes drunk – her thoughts are frazzled and frayed.

"And 'Mr. Stalky-stalk'? Really?" He said finally making eye contact.

She laughs loudly and honestly, she wasn't expecting him to start teasing her. Even if she did deserved it.

"I was looking at a photograph," Bella said, "Mr. Stalky-stalk." She said unable to fight the grin on her face.

"Gee, I'm not very good at this stalking business am I?" He said wryly.

"Not really but it's okay I'm sure you'll get better at it." Bella said.

"Your faith in me, means the world." He said moving closer to her.

"You might have to follow me everyday."

"Oh what a chore!" He said with mock horror. He placed his hand delicately on the swell of her hip. She noticed, but didn't move away, he took this as a good sign and snaked his arms around her waist.

"Yes, well it's a skill and like with any skill, you must practice." She continued, she was aware that the atmosphere around them had changed but she couldn't seem to shut up.

Edward didn't respond he just pulled her closer to him, Bella placed her hands on his forearms. He tilted his head, his eyes flicking between her lips and her eyes. Bella started to stretch up on her toes to meet him when she heard …

"Don't waste your time, bro, she's totally frigid!"

Bella looked around to see who had interrupted their moment. It was the guy who'd been humping her on the dance floor.

"Oh yeah asshole? Well if it doesn't work out with me he can just call your mom!" Bella shouted back.

The guy flipped her the bird while his friends fell about the place laughing. Bella was so annoyed at this knob that she had almost forgotten what she'd been doing prior, until she felt Edward's shoulders shaking with laughter against her hands. She looked up shyly, he was smiling and looking adorable. But Bella knew that the moment had passed. She suddenly became very interested in the buttons on his shirt.

"Friend of yours?" Edward asked.

"A scorned lover, what can I say Edward? I have a checkered past." Bella said trying to cover up her embarrassment. Edward laughed even more now.

"Come on I think everyone is leaving lets go find the others." He said.

Once they found the others they divided up into two cabs. Bella was going in the same direction as Jasper and Alice so they shared a cab, while Rose, Emmett and Edward waited for the next one. Rose and Emmett had begun to squabble and Jasper and Alice were snuggling in the back seat. As Bella made her way over to the cab Edward came up behind her and put his hand on her elbow.

"Hey, can we maybe get together next week?" He said quietly.

"Like for a date?" Bella said nervously.

"Yeah, yeah like a date. If you want." Edward said.

"Oh, okay, yeah sure that would be nice. I'd like that." Bella said.

Edward beamed as he opened the door of the cab for her. He waved as the cab pulled away from the curb.

As soon as Edward was out of sight, Bella announced, "Alice, we have a problem."

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry it took so long :) Thanks for reading!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Rose and Alice were huddled around a corner table in Alice's bakery, staring intently at Bella — both their faces set in expressions of disbelief — while Bella gazed over their heads, into the cake display planning her next slice.

"What do you mean you've _never_ been on a date before?" Alice spluttered, not trying to hide her confusion.

"I've never been on a date, how many things can that mean Alice?" Bella retorted petulantly.

Alice was too shocked by Bella's revelation to be offended by her tone, she just continued to gawp at Bella.

"Ok, ok but _why_ have you never been on a date?" Alice asked, leaning in as it would extract Bella's secret more effectively.

"Well, I don't know. Irish people, we don't really date, we just sort of y'know ..." Bella drifted off, she was beginning to regret having told them anything at all.

"No, we don't know! How do you meet people?" Alice asked, still clearly baffled.

"Through friends? Maybe I'm not explaining this right, none of my friends ever started a relationship with a _date—_"

"Stop saying it like that," Rose interrupted.

"Like what?" Bella asked.

"You keep saying _date _like it's not a real thing, it's weird!"

"Fine, sorry. So anyway, back home we just meet friends of friends when we're out and if after you've meet the guy a few times while drunk and you don't hate him then you eventually meet up when you're both sober. If the spark is still there then happy days! But if not you just put it down to the whiskey and never speak again," Bella said, she felt a bit disappointed as her description had sounded much better in her head.

There was a moment of silence, the two women just stared at Bella looking puzzled.

"That is the most depressing thing I have ever heard," Rose finally said, while looking at Bella pityingly.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad ... is it? Alice?"

"It does sound pretty grim Bella," Alice said.

"Oh god, what am I going to do!" Bella said putting her face in her hands. "He's going to think I've lived in the woods my whole life!"

"No he won't. It's not a big deal," Alice said unconvincingly.

"Really, you should see your faces right now, I feel like I just wandered out of Narnia! But look, he hasn't even tried to arrange anything yet, y'know? So maybe he won't call at all and I won't have to deal with any awkwardness, hurrah! Alice, can I have some cake now?"

"No! No cake for you. You've had enough today!"

"Ugh, why is this so complicated?" Bella whined, plopping herself down at one of the tables.

"It's not, dating is easy and fun – honestly," Rose reassured. "You just need to be confident and don't be fake. Everything else will come naturally."

"I hope you're right. It's so much easier to do when you're drunk ..." Bella said turning her attention back to the cake stand.

"Not a healthy attitude Bee," Alice said. Bella snorted in response.

"I think if I'm honest, I might be a little bit homesick," Bella admitted quietly. "Things are just different here. This is the first time I've really admitted that, that maybe adjusting to life here is going to be hard work," she said, while fidgeting with her sleeve.

"Oh, Bella. It's not that big a deal. Like you said you're just feeling a bit homesick, it'll pass," Rose said, placing her arm around Bella's shoulder.

"Yeah, you're right I'm fine. I'm just feeling sorry for myself. Thanks," Bella sniffed, happily avoiding tears.

"Hey, do you need help moving into your new apartment this afternoon?" Rose asked, sensing that Bella would like a change of subject.

"Yeah, actually I do. Would you guys be able to give me a hand?"

"I'm sorry I can't, I have to work," Alice said.

"Luckily I've got the day off, my class are going on a field trip and I've managed to avoid chaperoning. So I'd be happy to help out, I've always wanted to get a glimpse of Lauren's palace," Rose said winking.

"Yes, I'm sure you have," Bella smiled.

"Ok, well I better get back to work," Alice said as she made her way back to the kitchen.

Rose and Bella spent the next few hours drinking coffee and eating carrot cake, before going to Bella's apartment.

* * *

><p>Edward sat at Alice's kitchen table, he was absentmindedly shredding a napkin. He had come to his cousin's small but exquisitely decorated apartment for dinner. The smell of fresh flowers wafted around him and throughout the apartment. Alice always had fresh flowers in her home, it's a trait he had never given much thought to. But it is why the smell of fresh flowers has always reminded him of Alice. These dinners had developed organically into a ritual of sorts, once a month they have dinner at Alice's apartment, just the two of them. The dinners themselves were usually light hearted, with the two poking fun at each other or just catching up. However, the importance of the dinners was not lost on either of them.<p>

Edward wasn't thinking of anything in particular as he sat waiting for Alice to finish up in the kitchen, but he was worrying. He couldn't quite put his finger on what the problem was, but he had a sense that things in his life were changing and change was one thing that Edward was not comfortable with.

"So did you call her yet?" Alice demanded as she turned the dishwasher on.

"Have I called who?" Edward said evasively, looking up at Alice slowly he found her with her arms folded, wearing an expression that he knew was not to be messed with. "In my defense you do tell me to call a lot of women — Esme, Grams, that lady from the phone company–"

"How _is_ Vera?" Alice interjected wryly.

"She's good, lately we've been considering my wireless internet needs," Edward retorted not missing a beat. Alice smiled, glancing at him sideways as she poured some wine.

"You know who I'm talking about Edward," she said quietly. Edward shifted in his chair uneasily. "_Bella_. Have you called Bella yet?" Alice said as she placed a glass of red wine in front of him.

"No ..." he replied, his fingertips stroking the stem of the glass.

"And what, may I ask are you waiting for?"

"Nothing, I just ... you know, I just have to wait a while. Can't seem too eager ..."

"Eager?" Alice repeated the word with an air of disbelief.

"Yeah," he shrugged.

"Okay, so how long are you going to wait?"

"Two weeks?" Edward offered, sounding unsure.

"Two weeks!" Alice shouted causing him to jump slightly. "No absolutely not! You are not going to do this to me again. Come on Edward," she pleaded.

"That was different," Edward mumbled.

"Maybe, but you totally broke Tanya's heart, you know that. She never spoke to me again. I mean I know she went a bit 'bunny boiler' towards the end but I think you set her off," Alice said tapping her wine glass gently on her chin.

"_I_ set her off?" Edward said raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, you did. Her crazy could have lain dormant for years, but you had to wake the beast," Alice shook her head at the memory.

"Pfft," Edward said dismissively.

"Whatever Edward, she was a good friend and now all she does is write passive aggressive messages on my facebook wall," Alice said gesturing dramatically for effect.

"Look you know that Tanya was a mistake, we _all_ know that thanks to the wonderful facebook. And I'm sorry you lost a friend because of our crazy relationship, but I don't know what to do. I can't help myself," he said looking out the window onto his cousin's neighborhood.

"Just don't do it again, don't fuck around with this girl. If you won't stop pursuing Bella—"

"Can't. I can't stop, I'm just drawn to her," he said seriously.

"Oh shut the fuck up," Alice said impatiently.

"Nice, my own cousin, you're like a sister to me and this is how you speak to me," Edward said. Alice continued talking choosing to ignore his lamenting.

"Call her tomorrow," she said.

"In a week?"

"_Who_ do you think you are? She's going to forget who you are! She's really hot Edward, guys were all over her at the club when we went out," she said.

"I just want her to think I'm cool," Edward whispered a bit pathetically.

"Oh dear cousin, but you're so not cool, not really. You need to give up this image of yours," Alice said sarcastically.

Edward rolled his eyes, "I know. I'll call her in a few days," he offered.

"But no more than a week?" Alice pushed.

"I promise," he smiled.

"Oh, like you promised to never date one of my friends again?" she said pouring more wine.

"Ah! But technically I'd decided I wanted to date her before you had even spoken to her. _Ergo_, I never broke that promise. In fact you're kind of mooching in on my girl," he said.

"Urgh you are so annoying! Just seriously Edward don't be a dick to this girl, she's a nice person," Alice said seriously.

"I know, Alice. I know," he said focusing once again on the napkin which was now in ribbons on the table. Alice wasn't convinced, though Tanya had had her flaws she still resented the fact that Edward had ruined their friendship.

"Don't treat her like you treated Tanya," Alice continued. "I hope you're sure you like her this time. I mean _really_ like her, because you were like this with Tanya and then after a few weeks you just tossed her aside. I won't let it go so easily next time, I mean it," she said.

"I know! But you do realise that Tanya wasn't totally blameless either," Edward retorted. "We weren't together that long but I couldn't trust her and you just admitted that she was a little bit crazy, to say the least!" he accused.

"Yes, I know but I just want you to know that this is all feeling very familiar to me and it's making me anxious," Alice said quietly.

"Yeah, I know," he said, the shame of his treatment of Tanya rang clear in his voice, but what could he say, he could only apologise so much.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes listening to the traffic below and staring out into the night, each feeling their own private burdens. Alice was beginning to feel guilty for pestering Edward so much. He had many reasons for behaving the way he did, not having his dad around as a teenager was a big factor. But she could only give him so many free passes. He needed to know he couldn't treat women like dirt. But she had decided she had labored the point enough for one night.

"Ok, lets change the subject. How's work?" Alice said.

Edward smiled gratefully, the evening continued with both of them laughing and enjoying each others company. Their argument was forgotten, in the way that family squabbles can be, forgotten but sure to be resurrected eventually.

* * *

><p>"So this is Lauren's apartment?" Rose said as she strolled around the living room. They'd just finished bringing Bella's limited belongings up to her new apartment. Bella was in the kitchen putting away the groceries they'd picked up on the way over.<p>

"Rose would you like some tea?" Bella asked.

"Sure, thanks," Rose replied. "I will admit this is a very nice place. The rooms are huge! She doesn't have any books, how is that possible?"

"I noticed that too, is it wrong that I judged immediately?" Bella asked, as she entered carrying two cups of tea.

"Ha! No, not really. I've definitely judged," Rose winked. They settled down on the sofa to enjoy their tea.

"So are you still nervous about the whole Edward thing?" Rose asked, tucking her knees into her chest and resting her teacup on them.

"What whole Edward thing?" Bella sighed. "He hasn't phoned me yet. I'm just trying not to think about it," she said.

"Are you still worried about never having been on a date before?"

"No, not anymore. Well a little bit, but I'm not feeling as hopeless today," Bella laughed.

"It's just the formality that gets me, I mean theres a phone call for a start. I hate the phone! And then we'll have to go to like, I don't know, a restaurant or something. It's weird to me but I'm ok with it. I'm just going to go with it and see what happens. I have an open mind!" she declared triumphantly.

"Well that's great, I'm proud of you!" Rose said, raising a tea cup to Bella.

"I just hope I don't make a fool of myself," Bella whispered. "Then again I once went to a fancy dress party and I was the only who dressed up, so I should be used to public humiliation," she nodded.

"No you did not, that didn't happen," Rose scoffed.

"Oh, yes it did! It was at a summer camp, not a sleep away one just one of those day ones. And then to make matters worse my dad was late picking me up so I had to sit outside and wait for him while all the kids walked by laughing. So scarring," Bella said with mock anguish, shaking her head.

"Oh my god!" Rose laughed, totally gobsmacked by Bella's story. "I didn't think that really happened. How did it happen? Did you get the wrong day?"

"No, people just changed their minds I guess. This was before kids used facebook or had cell phones so I had no way of knowing," Bella grimaced. "I don't know why I brought that up, the point is no matter how embarrassing going on a first date at 24 is to me it cannot be worse than being dressed as a gypsy fortune teller"

"Haha, well at least you have a high threshold for embarrassment," Rose said

Bella fumbled in her bag for her cell phone. When she eventually found it she didn't recognise the number on the small screen. Although this shouldn't have been unusual to her, given that she only knew four people well enough to have their cell phone number.

Bella looked up at Rose. "Do you mind if I take this?"

"No, of course not. But before you do, where's the bathroom?" Rose asked. Bella pointed her in the right direction, Rose excused herself leaving Bella alone in the living room. She turned her attention back to her phone.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hello, Bella?" a voice responded.

"Yes, who is this?"

"Oh, this is Edward," Bella suddenly recognised his voice. She tried to speak but realised she didn't quite know what to say.

"Hi, Edward. How are you?" she cringed at how rigid and rehearsed her voice sounded. It sounded as though she wasn't really interested.

"I'm good thanks, how are you?"

"I'm fine, can't complain. I just moved into my new apartment today," she said.

_ Not that you asked, _she immediately thought.

"Cool ..." he drifted into silence after that. Bella struggled to find something to say.

"So, did you have a good day at work?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was good. Look I'll just get to the point, I asked Alice for your number. I was wondering if you still wanted to get together sometime soon? Maybe on Friday?" he said, Bella could tell her was rushing.

"Yeah sure that sounds really good, well you have my number so you can text me about times and stuff," Bella said.

"Great, I'll text you soon," he said. "I'm really looking forward to seeing you again."

"Me too," Bella said shyly.

"Cool. Ok, bye Bella," Edward said.

"Bye, Edward. See you soon."

Bella waited for Edward to hang up. She held the phone in both hands and pressed her hands under her chin. She felt lightheaded and giddy, but she wasn't embarrassed about those feelings anymore. She was looking forward to spending time with Edward.

"Who was that?" Rose asked with a teasing smile.

"Edward, but you already knew that didn't you?" Bella said.

"Maybe, that grin you're sporting really gave it away."

"We're going out on Friday," Bella said.

"Cool, what are you going to wear?"

Bella's face dropped, she looked totally confused and a bit scared. Rose could see the terror in Bella's eyes and wasn't entirely surprised by it.

"Right, I see. Don't panic, I'll text Alice and we'll have a look at your wardrobe. When it comes to putting together outfits she's a pro."

* * *

><p>AN: Thanks for reading, I'll try to update sooner next time :) x


	6. Chapter 6

Bella sat in her living room in the fading evening light, she was scouring job websites for vacancies. She had applied to some publishing jobs but wasn't expecting any responses, even though she had a good deal of experience in the industry the American publishing industry was a bit different which meant that she would have a lot of learning to do. So she'd settled for applying to any and every advertisement she came across. She was currently writing an enthusiastic cover letter for a waitressing job in a bar. She had waited tables in a café back home for a couple of summers, and was hoping that her skills would be transferable.

Just as she'd finished signing off on her cover letter she noticed she had one new email. She was shocked to discover it was an email from on of the publishing houses she'd applied to. She clicked into it and scanned the words quickly, anxious to know what it said. To her surprise she'd managed to secure and interview with a small independent publishers, Whitman House. She could vaguely recall speaking to a Suzie Whitman at Angela's book launch. Pleased that she must have made a good impression she wrote a response confirming she could attend an interview next Wednesday at the agreed time.

Bella decided she'd have lunch, she wasn't particularly hungry but she wanted to kill some time. It wasn't easy to be unemployed she found herself at a loss now in her third week of living in New York she was starting to feel like this wasn't a holiday anymore. Still she felt as though she was adjusting well to her new life, her only challenge now was to find a job and trying to live with Lauren who it turns out was a bit of maniac. The weirdness had started a few days ago when Bella had just moved in.

"I'm a vegan," Lauren had declared haughtily.

"Oh, yum?" Bella replied.

"Right," Lauren said. "So obviously that means I don't want you cooking any meat in the apartment. I will allow dairy, you're welcome," Lauren said seriously, flicking her hair as she finished.

"Really? You'll let me have dairy?" Bella said sarcastically. "Come on I'm paying rent here you can't tell me what not to eat!"

"I'm not saying you can't eat meat, I'm just saying I don't want you to prepare animal flesh in my kitchen," Lauren said looking as though she was unaccustomed to being challenged.

"Ew, don't say flesh," Bella cringed.

Lauren tapped her foot impatiently with her arms folded.

"Alright fine, no animal flesh," Bella conceded thinking it was easier to give in to this one quirk rather than look for a new apartment. "But I won't give up my human sacrifices, I promised my mother I wouldn't forget my roots!" she joked. However the joke fell flat and Bella was left facing a sour faced Lauren.

"I don't ... we don't do that ... I don't know why I said that ... just jokes .. sorry," Bella mumbled as she made a quick exit.

Bella had been avoiding her ever since, and sneaking KFC into the apartment any chance she got. But at the moment Lauren was out at a modeling audition so Bella had the place all to herself. She was on her way through the living room when she noticed Púca – the stray cat she'd been feeding, unbeknownst to Lauren who also had a no pets rule – stretched out on the couch. He was anything but cute – his fur was a dusty grey, his ears were scabby and sore from the various fights he was sure to get into and he was missing his left eye. But Bella had grown attached to the little gremlin, he had a lovable personality despite his looks and smell. That's why she called him Púca, meaning goblin or mischievous spirit in the Irish language.

"Púca! What are you doing in here?" Bella noted that he was looking very pleased with himself.

"Let's get you some lunch," Bella said as she lifted him up and brought him out into the kitchen. As she turned the corner into the kitchen Bella's eyes were immediately drawn to the kitchen table where a dead mouse lay right in the middle.

"Oh Púca, you shouldn't have!" Bella said, in a deadpan tone.

Púca wriggled free and sauntered along the kitchen counter. He climbed out the window and disappeared into the alley below, probably hoping that Bella would learn a lot from his hunting lesson. As she watched him leave Bella recalled that she had left the window open that morning to air out the kitchen after Lauren had made a particularly foul smelling lentil and bean stew. Bella sighed as she disposed of the unfortunate mouse and began to disinfect the table. Suddenly she heard a key in the front door. She froze. There was still a substantial amount of blood on the table, too much to hide. She started scrubbing frantically hoping to minimize the damage as much as she could.

"Oh, hi. Are you cleaning the kitchen?" Lauren asked as she placed her bag on the counter.

"Yes, I am. Cleaning the table," Bella said after a moment.

Lauren and Bella stared at each other, both daring the other to say something. Lauren's eyes suddenly darted from Bella's to the table and back again.

"What is that?" Lauren asked looking once again at the table where Bella had been scrubbing.

"Oh just some sort of cleaning fluid stuff ... it's red ... cherry scented I think," Bella said spreading her hands out as wide as she could to cover the stain.

"So, hey _you_ look pretty. How did your audition go?" Bella said, her voice an octave higher than usual. And with that Lauren was distracted, she nattered on happily for the next twenty minutes about photographers and her agent. Bella oohed and aahed in all the right places, as she finished cleaning up.

"God I just can't wait to get out of this job!" Lauren lamented.

"Oh you don't enjoy teaching?" Bella asked.

"I'm not a teacher," Lauren said looking puzzled. "I work in the Starbucks at the school," she clarified.

"Oh I see," Bella said uncomfortably. "When Rose said she worked with you I just assumed."

"Yeah, I don't want a demanding day job you know. I have to stay focused on my modeling," Lauren said.

"Of course," Bella responded as she gave the kitchen table one final wipe down with the bleach she'd found under the sink. She went to put the bottle back under the sink when she noticed Púca sitting proudly on the window ledge. She smiled and wrapped on the window, he stretched his paws up to meet her fingers.

"Ew, I hate that cat. It's probably full of diseases. Shoo!" Lauren said as she waved a towel against the glass. Bella tried to stifle her laughter as she watched Lauren try to scare Púca away, he simply hissed at Lauren and arched his back. She eventually gave up and went over to the stove to reheat her lentil bean concoction, Bella cringed as the smell started to waft around again.

"What are you up to this afternoon?" Lauren asked.

"Alice and Rose are coming over in a bit, Alice is helping me pick out an outfit for tonight," Bella said hoping Lauren wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"What's happening tonight?" Lauren immediately pounced, her face twisted into a grin that Bella recognized form the mean girls of her teenage years. And with that the atmosphere changed. Bella felt it so clearly it made her cheeks flush. This was a question that Lauren hoped would give her some ammunition, something to lord over Bella. An old feeling of panic rose up around Bella, it felt like drowning. She knew there was no way out of answering, she knew from experience that no matter what she said, no matter how blasé she was about it, girls like Lauren always found a way to torture their chosen victim.

"I have a date tonight," Bella said bracing herself for whatever would come next.

"Really?" Lauren laughed. "So who's the lucky guy?"

"Edward Masen. He works with Rose. You might know him," Bella said.

Lauren's face dropped, she looked sharply at Bella.

"Edward _Masen_?" she repeated. She looked furious as Bella nodded her head.

"So you do know him?" Bella said cautiously.

"Yes, I know him. _Everyone_ knows him," Lauren said snidely. "I'm surprised he's into someone like you," Lauren mused. "I mean he usual goes for gorgeous, blonde supermodels. But I guess he's just trying something ... different," she said with a cruel smile.

Bella opened her mouth to respond with something witty and cutting but was interrupted by the sound of knocking on their front door.

Bella breezed out of the kitchen to answer the door, deciding to ignore Lauren.

"Hi! We come bearing clothes!" Alice said holding up a small overnight bag, but wheeling a giant suitcase behind her.

"Lots of clothes," Rose said as she hugged Bella. "You ok? You're not getting nervous are you?"

"No, no. Lets go into my room. I could do with some cheering up!" Bella said smiling at Alice who was practically bursting with energy.

"I want you to wear blue!" Alice blurted out.

"Alice!" Rose scolded. "What did we _just_ talk about?"

"You're right. I'm sorry Bella. You can try on all the colours ... and then you'll wear blue ... if you want to ... which you will," Alice said trying to keep Rose happy.

"Ok, I'm sure I'll love the blue," Bella laughed as she led her friends to her room.

Over the next few hours Bella tried on several different outfits. All of which Rose and Alice scrutinized mercilessly. Bella was enjoying herself and had to admit that she did love the blue top Alice wanted her to wear. However they did disagree on what Bella should wear with said top. Alice maintained that a skirt was the only option. While Bella insisted that skinny black jeans with boots was the way to go. In the end Rose cast the deciding vote, siding with Bella. After Rose had finished setting Bella's hair in loose curls, Alice put the finishing touches to her make up Bella was ready to go.

"Thank you guys so much," Bella said as she hugged the girls goodbye.

"No problem, text me and let me know how it goes," Rose said.

"Oh you look amazing Bella!" Alice gushed.

"All thanks to you," Bella winked. "I'll text you later. Thanks again," Bella called after them as they made their way down the hall.

Bella went back to her room to get her purse and keys. She grabbed her jacket on her way out the door, Lauren caught sight of Bella as she was putting her jacket on.

"Wow, Bella you look ..." Lauren stopped seemingly lost for words as she looked Bella up and down.

"Like a gorgeous supermodel?" Bella said quoting Lauren's earlier insult and raising one eyebrow. "Don't wait up," she said when Lauren didn't respond. Bella slammed the door behind her feeling more than a little triumphant and hoping that the night was only going to get better.

* * *

><p>Bella arrived at the restaurant where she was to meet Edward a little after the agreed time, at Rose's suggestion. As she entered the restaurant she felt at ease immediately, it was a nice place with a warm atmosphere – cool and kind of retro. The host offered to take her jacket, while he was hanging it up she scanned the room for Edward. She found him almost instantly. He was sitting by the window – at a small, quiet table. She took a moment to examine him. He was stooped over a bit, with his elbows on the table. He was fidgeting with a napkin – unfolding and then refolding it again. She smiled to herself, she found his seemingly nervous disposition adorable. She was momentarily anxious about why this handsome, interesting and quirky guy would want to go out with her. At the thought she began to fret – chewing on her bottom lip while planning her escape – Edward suddenly looked up from the napkin and when he caught sight of her his face lit up. She couldn't deny it, he was interested in her. He gave her a small smile, once he had hidden his excitement at seeing her. She smiled and lowered her eyes, feeling quietly confident about things now.<p>

She strolled across the restaurant floor to where Edward sat. He stood up as she approached.

"Hi," he said smiling. "You look lovely," he said as he leaned in to kiss her cheek.

Bella blushed, unprepared for the compliment. Though this was not the first time they had met, it was the first time that she had talked to him without any Dutch courage.

"Thank you," she replied. Edward moved to pull out a chair for her.

"You're quite the gentleman, aren't you?" she teased, as she sat down. Truthfully she felt totally smitten by his actions.

"I try," he replied smiling with a cheeky glint in his eye. He sat down across from her and handed her a menu that their waiter had left on the table. They perused the menus, both deciding what they would order fairly quickly but they continued to hold the leather bound menu for longer than necessary – almost like a kind of comfort blanket.

"Everything looks so nice," Bella said. She was feeling a little self conscious again, small talk wasn't exactly her forte but she wasn't sure what else to say.

"Yeah, I like it here," he replied. Bella smiled in response, silence followed. _Think of something to say. Think of something to say_, Bella chanted inwardly.

The waiter arrived to take their orders. Bella noticed that he was quite young and nervous – _I know how you feel buddy_, she thought to herself. They placed their orders and he brought them their drinks.

"So, how are you liking New York?" Edward asked.

"I love it. I really like the energy and the pace, I think moving here is probably the best thing I've ever done," she answered. Edward nodded his head in agreement.

"Alice tells me you work with Rose? Do you like teaching?" Bella asked.

"Yes, I do. When I started teaching it was just meant to be a temporary thing. Rose got me the job and I really loved it so I stayed," he said, taking a sip of his beer.

"What was it you originally planned to do? I mean before you started teaching?"

"I wanted to be a writer," he laughed.

"Why is that funny?" Bella asked. He was confused by her question.

"Well I suppose it just seems so far fetched now – so impossible," Bella's forehead tensed in confusion.

"What sort of stuff did you write?" she asked.

"Plays," he answered. "I always wanted to write and direct my own plays," he said. He felt totally exposed and a bit embarrassed. He hadn't told many people about his ambitions of writing before, especially not women he was on a first date with.

"If you are really meant to do it – to write I mean – you'll find the time to fit it in. Most writers are part time writers nowadays anyway. It's very difficult to live off your art," Bella said. She admired his creativity but had no sympathy for self pity or apathy. She firmly believed that if you loved something enough you should make it work – even if she didn't live by that philosophy all the time.

"Very true," he replied.

The waiter arrived with their food. Bella looked up and caught him blatantly checking Edward out. She smiled to herself, Edward seemed totally oblivious to how attractive he was – at least at that moment anyway. The waiter looked at Bella, perhaps she was still feeling sensitive about Lauren's comments but she got the distinct feeling that she was being judged – and had been found wanting.

"Is that everything?" their waiter enquired, directing the comment towards Edward.

"Yes, I think so. Bella?"

"Yeah, that's all thanks," Bella said raising an eyebrow at the waiter.

"Great, enjoy your meal," he said as he left.

Their conversation was easy and flowed richly. Bella was comfortable with Edward and vice versa. They enjoyed each others company and it had begun to stop feeling like a first date. Neither of them were nervous or stressed about saying the right thing. Once they had gotten over their initial nerves they simply enjoyed themselves. Their waiter – Edward's new biggest fan – interrupted on several occasions to refill their glasses, give them more breadsticks but mainly – as far Bella as could tell anyway – to make googlie eyes at Edward.

"You were saying?" Edward said, after the latest interruption.

"Um, yeah. So I'm kind of nervous about the interview, it's a long shot but I mean I have to try," she said.

"I agree. It's very brave what you've done," Edward said looking her directly in the eye.

"What, apply for a job?" she asked in jest.

"No, I mean leaving your home and everything familiar behind you and starting again in a new city – a new continent! I just think that would take guts," he looked back down at his hands.

"I suppose so, it's not easy. But to be honest it's a lot easier than I expected it to be. I mean I already have friends and an apartment, I think I'm pretty lucky actually," she smiled as he looked up at her.

"And am I one of your new friends, Bella?" he said grinning at her.

"We'll see," she teased.

After their dinner Edward and Bella took a cab back to Bella's building, he paid the driver, deciding that he would walk the rest of the way home.

"I'll walk you to the door," Edward said when he saw Bella looking curiously at him as they stood on the curb.

"Okay," Bella said. They walked up the five steps that led to the main door of her building. Bella fumbled in her purse for her keys, she smiled and held them up triumphantly when she found them. He smiled and laughed softly at her expression.

"I had a really nice time tonight," she said. She looked up at him and smiled.

"I had fun too. We should do this again soon?" he said hopefully, grazing his hand against her wrist absentmindedly.

"Definitely," she replied as she moved closer to him.

Edward reached up and placed his hand on her jaw, he ran his thumb gently over her cheek. His eyes moved back and forth between her eyes and her lips. They were unconsciously moving closer together, Bella felt the heat from his hand on her cheek. She felt the electricity between them, she felt it crackle and tingle beneath her skin.

"Can I?" Edward whispered, looking at her lips.

"Please do," Bella breathed back.

Edward leaned in and grazed his lips against her mouth, he delicately caressed her lips with his. Bella gasped at the feeling, he was being so gentle with her – her heart leapt at how cherished it made her feel. But she wanted more. She stretched up on her toes, resting her hands on his upper arms and pressed her lips against his, trying to deepen the kiss. He ran his tongue against her lips, they parted instantly and he began to caress her tongue with his. It was slow and intimate, one of the most intense kisses that Bella had ever experienced. She moved her hand to the nape of his neck and pushed her fingers into his hair. It was so soft and he groaned as she tugged on it. The vibrations of his groan on her lips made her giggle. He smiled as they broke apart, he looked into Bella's shining brown eyes and then back to her full lips. He leant in for one last soft kiss before pressing his forehead against hers and resting his hands on her hips.

"Bella," he sighed.

She didn't know what to say so she just reveled in his touch and the feeling of his breath on her face. She had never been so affected by human contact as she was at that moment. It was then she realized that Edward wasn't just some guy she was on a date with. He was important. She held onto the lapels of his jacket as she digested the thought.

"Good night, Bella. I'll call you," he said. Then he kissed her forehead, breathing in the smell of her hair. He let his arms drop from Bella's hips and she missed the contact immediately.

"Night, Edward. Thanks for dinner," she said as he started to walk back down to the sidewalk. He looked back at her and smiled. Once she was safely inside the building, he pushed his hands into his pockets and started to walk home.

Moments later Bella and Edward both received the same text message.

_ So? How'd it go? ;) - Alice_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks for reading x**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_It went really well. He's a gentleman ;) - B_

Bella smiled as she lay in bed scrolling through the text conversation she'd had with Alice the night after her date with Edward. She recalled the parts she'd liked the most about the date. The way his touch was respectful and gentle. He focused on her through the entire date, he made her feel as though they were the only two people in the room. All her worries about 'dating' feeling forced or awkward were unfounded. She'd known that she was attracted to Edward since she first saw him, but now she knew she liked him, she was comfortable around him and she wanted to know more about him. Recognizing this feeling sent a rush of excitement through her. She jumped out of bed suddenly eager to get the day started.

Bella spent the rest of the morning trying to perfect her 'professional' look, it was becoming tiresome. She finally settled on a grey pencil skirt and maroon blouse, she opted to wear her hair down with minimal make up hoping for a sophisticated look. She looked at her reflection one more time, turning her back to the mirror and looking over her shoulder – not entirely sure what she was looking for but feeling satisfied that everything looked the way it should.

"Well what do you think?" Bella asked, turning to Púca who was stretched out on Bella's bed. Bella sniggered when Púca continued to purr indifferently.

"Wish me luck Púca!" Bella scratched Púca's chin as she grabbed her purse from the bed.

She arrived at an imposingly tall building, she tilted her head back and watched as the building disappeared into the sky. Bella steeled herself as she strode into the reception area. She scanned the plaque beside the elevators listing the offices in the building. Whitman House finally caught her eye so she hopped into the elevator and headed for the 14th floor. Bella watched as the numbers lit up as she ascended, the elevator doors opened with a ping. Bella was greeted by a bright open plan office. There was a reception desk directly in front of the elevator, behind that there was a pool of cubicles. The room was lined with glass walls complete with a frosted strip for privacy, these – she assumed – were the offices of very important people. Suddenly, the elevator doors slowly started to close, Bella reached her hand out to stop them. She walked over to the receptionist.

"Hello, can I help you?" the chirpy girl behind the desk asked.

"Hi, yes. My name is Isabella Swan, I have an interview at 10.30?"

"Ok, great. I'll just get you checked in," the receptionist said as she typed. "Alright, let me show you were you can wait," she said. She proceeded to lead Bella through the cubicle pool. Bella tried to take a closer look at her surroundings but all the faces blurred into one.

"Ok, please take a seat and we'll be with you soon," the girl said gesturing to an empty seat outside one of the glass walls. There were four chairs – two pairs facing each other. There was a guy sitting in one of the chairs facing the glass wall, he was wearing a bow tie, dark jeans and a corduroy jacket. His light hair was gelled neatly – almost solidly – and split rigidly to the left. He looked about Bella's age, but he seemed nervous and this made him look a lot younger. He glanced at Bella only for a moment, he smiled and then quickly looked away. Bella sat diagonally to him, she thought this would eliminate anymore uncomfortable eye contact.

Moments later another interviewee arrived, she was all blonde hair and golden skin – Bella instantly disliked her. She looked like she belonged in a modeling agency not a publishing house. She sat opposite Bella and smiled politely. Bella returned the smile, she noticed bow tie guy had also taken note of the model. Suddenly the door behind Bella opened and a tall, brunette woman emerged.

"Ms. Lynette Lewis?" the woman said.

"That's me!" the model said.

"Great, come on in and we'll get started."

With that the door closed and Bella had nothing to do but wait. She ran her hands over her lap, smoothing out the wrinkles in the fabric. It was a nervous habit that made her feel comfortable. Her leg bounced once or twice. Then she ran her hands along her thighs, tucked them under her knees and sighed. She couldn't help but imagine what an amazing interview the blonde was having. _Damn her_, Bella thought to herself. She looked up at the bow tie guy, he was looking through his résumé. She didn't think he'd be much good at small talk so she took out her phone and scrolled through her text messages.

**No new messages**.

She tried to convince herself she didn't care that Edward hadn't text her since the other night. It had been a few days now, surely it was time for him to text her.

Maybe she should text him?

Is that desperate?

What if he was thinking the same thing?

They'd be trapped in a perpetual stalemate forever.

Just then bow tie guy sneezed causing Bella to just about jump out of her skin. Though she was grateful to him for snapping her out of her crazy spiral.

"Bless you," Bella said with a smile. He just nodded in response. _Definitely not one for small talk_, she thought.

She began typing out a text message to Edward; _I think we should stop tiptoeing around this and just sort it out, once and for all. Bow ties. Yea or Nay? B_

_ The first test_, Bella thought, _does he think my brand of crazy is cute or terrifying?_

After what felt like the longest 30 minutes ever the blonde emerged from the scary glass room looking very pleased with herself. Edward still hadn't text back after 20 minutes so Bella concluded that she was in fact terrifying. _Just as I suspected_, Bella thought.

"Isabella Swan?"

"Yes, hi. That's me," Bella said.

"Right this way," a red haired woman said as she led Bella into the scary room.

The scary room turned out to be a very neat, sophisticated room with an amazing view.

"Take a seat Isabella," the red head said, gesturing to a seat in front of a large mahogany desk. The dark haired woman who Bella had seen earlier was sitting behind the desk.

"Isabella, isn't it?" she said.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you," Bella said offering her hand to the woman.

"Very nice to meet you too. My name is Suzie and this is my assistant Victoria," Suzie said shaking Bella's hand firmly.

"Ok, Victoria can you take notes please? So lets get started," Suzie said.

"Isabella, I see you're from Ireland. What brings you to New York?"

"Well, I'd been working as an editor in Ireland for about two years but unfortunately the publishing house I was working for went out of business. Once that happened I found it very difficult to get another job, the recession has made it very difficult for people. The publishing industry has taken a real hit back home, people just don't have money for discretionary spending anymore," Isabella rattled off her prepared speech. Suzie nodded along, making sympathetic noises occasionally.

"But of course, I've always wanted to be part of such a vibrant literary scene. Here in New York there are so many exciting writers and a lot of wonderful publishing houses. And not just with the big ones, I think independent publishers are doing some really important work and I'd just love to be a part of that," Bella said.

"Yes, there is a misconception that the only publishing houses in New York are Random and Penguin," Suzie said peering over the rims of her glasses with a smile.

Bella laughed, nodding in agreement. Over the next ten to fifteen minutes Bella and Suzie chatted about the publishing industry and books. Suzie quizzed Bella about her prior experience, her interests, and where she hoped to be in ten years time. Bella felt very relaxed and found it easy to be in Suzie's presence. She thought that the interview was going well and felt quite confident.

"Ok, well I'm very impressed with everything I've heard so far," Suzie said. "We're actually interviewing for several positions today, as I'm sure you gathered from the waiting area," she said gesturing to the door with her glasses in hand.

"I'll level with you Isabella I think you'd be a great asset to us, I'd like to offer you a position," Suzie continued, pausing briefly to look up at Bella who was grinning stupidly.

"However, it's not an editorial position – yet. And by that I mean it may go that way for you in the future, we have an opening in our digital publishing department. I think it would be a good fit for you. As I said there is room to move around within the company so we aren't ruling that out at the moment. Though I do respect that you have a good deal of experience the American publishing industry is quite different to that which you would have experienced in Europe. So right now the offer is an entry level position in our digital department. What do you think?" Suzie said.

"That sounds great, I really appreciate you giving the chance to work here," Bella said.

"Wonderful, I think it's impressive that you're willing to be flexible. So you'd like to accept?"

"Yes absolutely!" Bella said.

"Great, Victoria will be in touch later today. She'll fill you in on the specifics. But for now I look forward to working with you and I'll see you on Monday," Suzie said. She stood up and shook Bella's hand.

"Thank you so much, it was so nice to meet you. See you Monday, I'm really looking forward to it," Bella said.

Bella left the building with a huge smile on her face, feeling as though she could literally float down the street. She was on her way to meet Rose and Alice, she was even more excited to meet them since she had such good news to share. Her phone beeped indicating a new text message.

_ Hey, Sorry I didn't respond I had a class. Is the bow tie being used for good or for evil? In other words is it a hipster thing? E_

_ I do not suspect any hipster pretense. B_

_ Well in that case I say yea, of course. I think the bow tie is probably the noblest of all the ties. E_

_ I would argue it is second only to the cravat. B_

_ The cravat! Well I would agree but the cravat isn't an approachable tie. E_

_ I see your point, so bow ties are the winner then. Glad we worked that out :) B_

_ Me too. I've got to get to class. Can I call you later? E_

_ Sure, sounds good. B x_

_Eeeep, _Bella thought. _Was the kiss too much? _It had felt natural so she tried not to worry about whether it was weird or not. Luckily she was on her way to get coffee with Alice and Rose so that would take her mind off any potential awkwardness.

* * *

><p>Bella arrived at Café Seine before Alice, but Rose was already waiting at a table by the window. She was preparing herself for the grilling she was sure to get from Alice about her date with Edward.<p>

"Hi there," Bella said as she approach the table where Rose sat. "Alice not here yet?"

"Nope, she's running late. So tell me, how did the interview go?"

"It went really well, they offered me the job!" Bella said triumphantly.

"What? That's great, I'm so happy for you," Rose said as she hugged Bella.

"Thanks! I'm so relieved, I feel like things are really coming together now," Bella said smiling.

The two caught up for a few minutes and Bella ordered a black coffee. It wasn't long before Alice arrived looking uncharacteristically flustered.

"Where have you been?" Rose asked as Alice plopped down into a chair.

"Oh my god, it was crazy! You know Milo?" Alice asked.

"No," Bella said.

"He works at the bakery, he's kind of flaky but has a good heart," Rose explained.

"Oh right, I named him 'stoner boy' in my head," Bella giggled before taking a sip of her coffee. Rose laughed but quickly stopped when she saw Alice's expression.

"Yes, well 'stoner boy' might be an apt description. The boy is useless!" Alice lamented.

"What happened? It can't have been that bad?" Rose asked.

"I'd been discussing the problems I was having with Milo with Jasper and he suggested I give him some more responsibility, to encourage him to take a more proactive approach to work. Which I thought was a great idea, so today I told him that I was meeting you guys for lunch and that he'd be left in charge of the store," she sighed and shook her head.

"So? What's the problem?" Rose asked.

"He just gave me a funny look. He looked sort of terrified and helpless, like a little baby bird. You wouldn't put a baby bird in charge of your business," she paused and pondered what she had just said. Bella and Rose both saw the change in her expression as panic started to spread over her face.

"No, no, no. He'll be grand. You know that's exactly what happens with baby birds their mums just literally throw them out of the nest and they fly or ... well you know ... fall ... to their death," Bella said trying to be reassuring. Rose looked puzzled by Bella's words but also wanted to be reassuring.

"Totally and I heard that both the bird mom and the nest flourish because they trust their baby birds to survive without them," Rose said sagely. Bella nodded in agreement.

"In this analogy you are the mom bird and the nest is the bakery," Bella mock whispered to Alice. Both Alice and Rose laughed at Bella's exaggerated gesturing.

"Yeah, I got that. You guys are crazy!" Alice laughed.

"Hey, you were the one who brought the baby bird into it. We were trying to speak your language!" Rose said.

"I know, I know. I just get a little freaked out about the bakery, I guess. But I'm going to stop thinking about it now and ... Oh! Bella how did your interview go?" Alice said practically jumping out of her seat when she remembered.

"It went so well! I got the job," she said grinning.

"What?" Alice squealed. "That's so great! I'm so proud of you," Alice reached over her chair to hug Bella.

"Aw, thanks Alice. I'm so happy, it's not exactly what I had wanted but it's an exciting opportunity. I just hope they want to keep me on after the probation period," Bella explained.

"Pfft, of course they're going to want to hold onto you!" Alice said.

Bella blushed, she was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with all the attention but she knew that Alice meant well.

"Ok let's get drinks to celebrate!" Alice said.

"Wait a minute Alice some of us have classes to teach in a few hours," Rose said. "How about we go out later?"

"Yay! I can't wait. Everyone can come over to my place before we leave for pre-club drinks!" Alice cheered.

"A night out might take your mind Milo and the bakery," Bella said.

"Urgh I hope so!" Alice replied.

After they'd been chatting for a while Bella decided to broach the Edward subject.

"So what did Edward tell you about the other night?" Bella tried to ask casually but Alice saw through her.

"Oh now let me see if I can remember what the wording was ..." Alice teased, tapping her finger on her chin.

"Aaaaliceee!" Bella pleaded.

"Oh calm down! He just told me to mind my own business – he's very rude Bella. Are you sure about him?" Alice joked.

"Mmmm, I think I might be," Bella said shyly.

Rose rolled her eyes while Alice clapped and bounced in her chair. After catching up on the recent events in each of their lives they went their separate ways. Bella headed to her apartment to send news of her new job home, Charlie and René would be delighted.

Later that night Bella arrived at Alice's apartment with a bottle of wine under her arm. Alice answered the door with a very enthusiastic hug suggesting that she had already started drinking.

"Everyone is here already," Alice said. Bella followed her to the living room where everyone – except Edward – was gathered. Rose was sitting with Emmet on the sofa, but Emmet and Jasper were deep in conversation so when Rose saw Bella arrive she jumped up and rushed up to her.

"Oh I'm so glad you're here! They are _so_ boring," Rose said hugging Bella.

"What are they talking about?" Bella said laughing.

"Urgh I don't know, there were sports played now they must be discussed," she said rolling her eyes.

"Oh how dull! C'mon lets get me a drink it looks like I have catching up to do," Bella said wrapping her arm around Rose's waist.

Alice was in the kitchen pouring drinks for the boys, Bella opened the wine and the girls each had a glass. They chatted for a bit before Bella decided to ask where Edward was.

"I was wondering when you'd ask," Alice smiled. Bella shrugged it off as if she didn't care.

"Well, he's on his way. Don't you worry your pretty little head," Alice giggled.

The girls went to the living room to sit with the boys. The next hour flew past, the group joked and chatted. Edward eventually arrived full of apologies for being late, but – Bella noted – lacking any explanation.

"Oh man, I am wasted!" Emmet declared, causing everyone to laugh.

"Yeah me too," Alice agreed.

"Why don't we just stay here? I don't think Em will get in anywhere anyway!" Rose suggested. The others made various nods and noises of agreement.

"Awesome, I'm ordering pizza!" Emmet said, already on his feet looking for his cell phone.

* * *

><p>Later that night Bella and Rose had been sitting on the couch chatting about Bella's job, Bella had been subtlety looking at Edward at various intervals and on her latest side glance he stood up leaving Jasper and Alice alone.<p>

"Jesus Emmett could you stop eating for like two minutes? Why did you even order so much?" Rose said, she left Bella's side to wrestle the pizza away from Emmett who wasn't giving it up without a fight.

"I'm not saying you can't have anymore, I'm just suggesting you take a breath!" she said, trying to calm him down as he mock-pouted.

"Well I'm going to have to find something else to do with my mouth now, aren't I?" he said, grabbing a squealing Rose around the waist and kissing her.

Bella suddenly felt like a third wheel so she had a quick look around for Edward, she spotted him out on the balcony. She was a little bit tipsy so even though they hadn't talked much that night and he hadn't phoned her like he said he would, she still went out to talk to him. He was standing with his back to the balcony doors, he was stooped over leaning his arms on the railing.

"What's up buttercup?" she said, slurring a bit. "You're being a bit antisocial tonight," Edward turned around at the sound of her voice.

"Hey," his face lit up when he saw her. She couldn't deny the flutters in her stomach.

"I guess I am a bit off tonight," he admitted. "I'm sorry I didn't call, I know I said I would ... I just got a little caught up in stuff," he said turning back to face the night sky.

"That's ok, 'stuff' can be time consuming," she said, mocking his vagueness. He turned his face slightly to study her expression.

"Are you teasing me?" he asked.

"Maybe," she said, as she approached the railing. "So this stuff, is it what's got you out here with your handsome thinking face on?"

"Handsome?" Edward said, as he smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"Ah!" Bella gasped jokingly. "And now you're doing your handsome smile and eyebrow raise! You are too much," she joked. Edward laughed and Bella was proud she'd been able to cheer him up.

"Ah, you know that's the first time I've laughed tonight?" he said more seriously now.

"We could talk about it if you want?" Bella said.

Edward took a deep breath and stood up straighter. "What's your favorite song?"

"Blue by Joni Mitchell," Bella answered not hesitating, but a little taken aback by his topic jumping.

Edward smiled, "I love that song," he said quietly. Bella felt herself blushing.

"Having said that, I love pretty much everything Hanson has ever done," Bella said, causing Edward to laugh.

"I like when you laugh," Bella said, bumping shoulders with him.

"I laugh a lot with you, I like it too," he smiled, taking a swig from the beet bottle in his hand.

Bella was aware of voices coming from back inside the apartment, but she didn't pay any attention to them. Edward started to tell her about his day – the mundane, the stressful, and the exciting – and she just listened.

"Ok, I admit it they are pretty cute together," Rose said, looking out a the balcony with Alice.

"They're adorable," Alice declared.

"I think you have a bigger crush on her than he does," Rose laughed.

"I'm totally in lesbians with her," Alice nodded seriously.

"Haha, well I think you might have to compete with Edward for her affections," Rose said.

"Cab's here babe," Emmett said.

Rose nodded and went over to the balcony to talk to Bella.

"Bye guys we're going to get a cab home, Em's getting too frisky for company," Rose said winking. Bella laughed and Edward rolled his eyes.

"I'll see you guys later," Edward said.

"I'll text you tomorrow," Bella said hugging Rose.

The others left Bella and Edward on the balcony, Bella presumed Alice walked Rose and Emmett out. They stood in silence for a few minutes looking out at the sleeping neighborhood. Bella shivered as a breeze blew by.

"Are you cold?" Edward asked immediately.

"A bit. Wanna go inside?" Bella said.

"Sure," he responded

The living room was empty when they came inside, Bella plopped down on the coach delighted to be inside warm and comfortable again.

"Alice and Jasper must have gone to bed," Edward speculated.

"Huh, some hosts they are!" Bella joked.

"Don't let her hear you say that, she'll never forget!" Edward said seriously.

Bella watched as Edward stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.

"Should I go? Is it weird to be here if Alice and Jasper aren't? I think it's weird" Bella rambled.

"No, of course it's not. I've had a few beers so I shouldn't drive and Alice would kill me if I let you get a cab home at this time. We can hang out here," Edward said. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

"Yeah, that would be nice. You pick whatever and I'll be right back," Bella said as she made her way to the bathroom.

"Pssst, Bella!" she heard Alice's voice from further down the hall. She turned to see Alice's head poking out from behind her bedroom door.

"There you are! Edward and I are going to watch a movie. Do you guys want to join?" Bella asked.

"No, no you guys enjoy," she said cheekily. "I just wanted to say that the guest room is made up so you can stay there if you like and you can put Edward wherever you like," she giggled.

"Alice shut up!" Bella said slapping Alice's arm playfully.

"Ok, ok. I'll leave you to it. Night," Alice said as she closed the door.

Bella grumbled as she closed the bathroom door. She studied herself in the mirror. _Not bad – eye make-up's a bit smudged but no panda eyes yet_, she thought. Satisfied with her only mildly disheveled appearance she went back to the living room. She found Edward sitting on the coach, watching the TV closely.

"So what did you decide on?" she asked.

"_The Godfather_," he said looking up at her with a grin.

"Well would you believe I've never seen it?" Bella said as she sat down beside him.

"What? Well Bella I knew you had been sent to New York for a reason!" Edward said, as he began to basically narrate the film. As Edward gushed about the genius of _The Godfather_ while Bella watched his face – it was so animated as he spoke, his eyebrows rose and fell, while his eyes implored with her to see his point – she noticed he gestured a lot, and it only added to his impassioned rant. He eventually slowed down so she could actually watch the film, he only added in points of interest from time to time.

Bella was starting to feel a little bit tired, the effects of the wine from earlier had worn off and she was now finding it hard to keep her eyes open. She folded her legs up so they were tucked up on the couch, the change in position meant that she was now leaning against Edward. Though it had been accidental she had no intentions of moving back. Edward didn't seem to mind, he'd had his right arm stretched out on the back of the sofa – but now he moved so his arm was around Bella and rested his hand on her shoulder.

They were both suddenly – almost instinctively – aware that neither of them were watching the movie anymore. Bella turned to look up at Edward, who was – as she suspected – looking down at her too. He put his hand under her chin and tilted her face to his. He leaned in slowly then pressed his lips against hers, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the delicate feeling of his mouth. He shifted his weight on the coach and after placing his hand on the small of her back maneuvered them both so he was hovering over her. Bella noted his skill, as his lips never left hers while they changed positions. His hand moved to her hip, slipping under her top just enough for him to make contact with her skin, she felt lost in the tingling feeling of his skin against hers. He moaned as she absentmindedly ground against his leg. He pulled away from her suddenly, the only noise in the living room was their breath and the whoosh of blood in their ears – the voices in the movie had long faded into the background.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she gently dragged her fingers through his hair.

"Nothing. I just wanted to look at you," he said. She watched his eyes as they flicked over her face, she felt like he was looking at parts she'd never noticed before. It reminded her of the way people view paintings, they keep looking closely at the surface hoping to catch a glimpse of what's beneath. He reached down and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. He smiled – it was a secret smile – about something she wasn't privy to. He placed delicate kisses along her jawline, so gentle that they almost tickled. Slowly he moved down the column of her neck and on to her collar bone, she was completely lost in sensation. Only the sound of Edward's husky groan brought her back to reality, she could feel that all of her writhing around had had quite an affect on Edward. The evidence of which was pressed against her thigh. He seemed to sense her thoughts.

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, we don't have to do ... anything," he blushed as he stammered out his reassurances.

"I want to," Bella declared. She was immediately mortified at her eagerness.

He smiled as he grazed his fingertips up and down her arm, making the soft hairs stand up. "Me too," he said. She pulled his face towards hers and kissed him deeply, she could tell that he liked it when she took control.

"Do you have a condom?" he asked.

"Oh ... uh ... no I don't. I've never ... well, y'know ..." she said trying to avoid making eye contact with him.

"Bella? You've never what?" he asked, his smile faltered. She could see that he was confused.

Her mind was frozen, she couldn't think of a lie or even a way to change to the subject altogether. She was suddenly hyper aware of how little they about each other.

"I've never done this before," she said gesturing between their chests.

Then it seemed that Edward was frozen, his mouth was slightly open and his eyes had widened as the meaning of her confession sunk in.

"You've never?" he asked raising his eyebrows at her.

"Never," she responded.

"You're a ... _virgin_?" he said in disbelief.

"Yeah," she sighed – pushing away her embarrassment – as she sat up pushing him back as she did. He was so shocked that he was easy to direct, Bella straddled him and began kissing his neck trying to get back to where they'd been moments ago.

"So what?" she said between kisses. "It doesn't change anything, I still want to do this," she insisted.

"No ... Bella stop," he said quietly. He gently pushed her hips back until she was sitting on the opposite side of the coach. "This obviously means more to you than it does to me and I –" he stopped himself mid-sentence when he saw the hurt expression on Bella's face.

"No, no that's not what I meant at all," he said, quickly reaching for her hand to reassure her. But Bella's hands were already in her hair fidgeting clutching at the roots and then grabbing for her purse, keys, phone, jacket – she was drowning in embarrassment and rejection. All she wanted to do now was make a quick exit.

"No I get it. Don't worry about it," she said flatly. "I have to go anyway. I'll see you around," she said.

She was already on her way out of the apartment before Edward knew what was happening.

"Bella wait! I didn't mean –" he called after her but she didn't look back or stop.

"Bella?" Alice poked came out of her room at the sound of the front door banging shut.

She looked back and forth between the door and Edward, seemingly not sure where to look. She finally settled on Edward, when she spoke her words dripped with venom.

"What did you do?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Thanks for reading :) I'm sorry for the delay but my life was taken over by _The Hunger Games _and_ The Fault in Our Stars. _DFTBA xx


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Bella rushed out into the street, the crisp night air pricked at her skin. She hailed a cab quickly, wanting to get far away from Edward – though she did note with some disappointment that he hadn't followed her, thus confirming all her feelings of inadequacy. When she arrived home she went straight to her bedroom and threw herself face first onto her bed. She groaned and kicked her legs as her mind filled with memories of her embarrassment. Why had she opened her stupid mouth? He'd caught her off guard. She had never intended on telling him, she'd assumed he wouldn't be able to tell. She had planned on playing it cool, but then he had asked a simple question and her mouth betrayed her. The part that bothered her the most – the part that made her cringe and long for the ability to travel back in time – was that she was on the pill. _Why didn't you just say that?_ she thought to herself.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she chanted in her pillow.

Bella heard Púca scratching at the window.

"Urgh, Púca go away! I'm going to die a virgin," Bella said.

She suddenly had an urge to talk to her best friend Jacob, she worked out that it would have been around 9am in Dublin. She knew Jacob would have just come back from the gym, so she got out her phone to text him.

_** Skype immediately! This is not a drill!**_

_There that should get the message across, _she thought. Bella turned on her computer and logged onto Skype. She didn't have to wait long for the little green tick to appear beside Jacob's name. She clicked on it and waited for him to accept her call.

"Honey B!" Jacob's familiar voice came through the speakers of her computer. It washed over her like a wave and wrapped around her. Jacob was one of Bella's oldest friends, they could read each others thoughts and even though their relationship was sometimes distant they could always fall back into their old habits – as if they had last spoken yesterday.

"Jaaaaaake!" Bella whined.

"What's the matter with you?" he laughed. His eyes twinkled clearly amused by Bella's behavior.

"Boy trouble," she said dejectedly.

"What? You have a _boyfriend_?" Jacob said not trying to hide the teasing tone in his voice.

"_Had_ a boy in my life, I think I may have scared him away."

"Is this the guy you mentioned in your last email? Edmund?" he continued to poke fun at her in her hour of distress. _Like a true friend_, Bella thought. She was amused by Jake's joking, he was always trying to make her smile.

"Edward," she corrected firmly, "and yes that's the one."

"Right, go on then. Tell me what happened."

"Well we were kind ... of moving to the next level or whatever and he found out that he was ... y'know ... a wee bit more experienced than I am," she explained blushing. "Then he freaked out and then I freaked out. Then I ran away," Bella finished making an exaggerated sad face so that Jacob would understand how dire the situation really was.

"Ok, that's not that bad. You haven't been over there for that long so I know you can't know him all that well, am I right?"

"I suppose so," Bella admitted.

"And it is a big deal for you even if you like to pretend it isn't. I know you Bella, you like things to go smoothly and you hate discussing the important stuff. I bet you weren't even going to tell him you're a virgin, were you?" Jacob asked. His expression suggested he believed he'd already won this argument.

"Virgin is such an ugly word," she said dismissively. Jacob laughed. Hearing the sound made her realise how much she'd missed him, it was nice not have to explain her past to someone. He knew all her secrets, all her weird habits and quirks. She'd never had to try with him. Jacob was familiar and he embodied home for her entirely.

"Well whatever you want to call it," he said. "You should have told him. I'd want to know if I was with a girl and it was her first time."

"Och, but it's so awkward now. He just thinks I'm a weirdo," she put her face in her hands and groaned.

"You're over reacting," Jacob said to calm her down. "You should talk to him, from what you've said in emails you seem to really like him and there's a connection or whatever the fuck you kept going on about," Jacob said. "It's better that he knows."

"Yeah I suppose you're right. I think I did want him know, on some level," she admitted.

"Of course you did, you needed to. It's not fair on either of you," Jacob said. Bella nodded in agreement.

"Jesus, I'm good at this. Watch out Dr. Phil," he laughed.

"Nah, Dr. Phil is too sophisticated. You're more of a Jeremy Kyle."

"Fuck you!"

"I'm just taking the piss, relax!" Bella laughed. "I do think you're right though I need to talk to him. I'll do it later I'm exhausted right now," she yawned.

"Well look get some sleep. It will be fine, if he's any sense he won't let a girl like you get away," Jacob said. His tone was serious and Bella felt her face heat from the comment.

"Thanks Jake," Bella said. "You're a great friend."

"That I am," Jacob said softly. "I'll talk to you soon, oh and well done on the job."

"Cheers, I'll let you know how it goes." Bella smiled at the screen, she watched as Jacob seemed to start to say something but then decided against it.

"Right I'm off, I'll speak to you soon. Sleep well, B."

"I'll try, enjoy your day, whatever you get up to," she said. Jacob smiled and nodded, with that he was gone.

Bella closed her laptop and got ready for bed. She was suddenly exhausted, she felt better having talked to Jacob but was a little confused by some of his comments. This was the longest they'd ever been apart. They were neighbors growing up and had always been a part of each others lives. He'd been her first friend, he'd defended her when the bullies attacked and he'd been her date to the debs (prom). It had been undeniably hard for her to leave Dublin, but she'd never thought about what it would be like for those that she'd left behind. She had assumed that her parents would miss her, she was an only child and so they were feeling the sting of 'empty nest' syndrome. But Bella had never thought that Jacob would miss her that much, she'd always thought that he meant more to her than she did to him. But then again he'd never had the chance to miss her before. But he had sounded different tonight and she'd noted in his emails too. He was eager to hear any news from her, no matter how mundane. Perhaps the space was making him look at her differently. She didn't have time to over-think the situation as she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

><p>Bella woke up several hours later around 11am, she showered and had breakfast. She was having a cup of tea in her bedroom – thinking about what to say to Edward – when she heard a knock on the front door. She checked her phone and noticed several missed calls from Alice and Rose – they'd obviously been talking – but there were no messages or calls from Edward.<p>

"Edward! What a surprise, come in," Bella heard Lauren squealing in her sickly sweet tones.

_Stupid, useless, roommate!_ Bella thought irrationally since she hadn't told Lauren about the what had happened. _I'm not ready to talk to him yet. What was she thinking letting the enemy into base camp!_

"Uh ... hi Lauren, right?" he sounded unsure. "I'm here to see Bella, do you know if she's home?" Edward asked stuttering a bit. He was obviously put off by Lauren.

"Oh right. You guys are ... whatever."

Bella couldn't help but snicker at the notable change in Lauren's mood.

"I don't know. She might be in her room ..." Lauren said disparagingly, slamming the front door closed.

Bella could hear Lauren's feet padding away towards her own room. She imagined Edward felt pretty awkward. _Good_, she thought. _Let him stew!_

A few seconds later she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door. She waited a moment before opening it. Part of her was still so mortified and hurt about the whole thing that she just wanted to forget about Edward and move on. But a much smaller part of her wanted to get past the embarrassment so that she could see where this relationship might go and what it could develop into. She rested her forehead against the door frame while her hand gripped the doorknob. She wanted to try to have a real relationship with Edward, an honest relationship. She held that thought at the front of her mind as she slowly turned the doorknob and pulled the door open. She peeked out from behind the door where she found a rather disheveled looking Edward. He looked like he hadn't slept, she was thrilled by the thought that he had stayed up worrying just like her.

"Hi," he said quietly.

"Who let you in downstairs?" she asked. He seemed momentarily confused by her question.

"Oh, some old lady was on her way out. I held the door for her and then slipped in ..."

"Cunning," she said dryly.

"Can we talk?" he asked. His voice was rough and his eyes were searching hers, she couldn't say no.

"Ok," she said opening the door further. Edward's eyes widened and he looked at her with an expression that she didn't understand.

"In your room? I thought maybe in the living room ... or ... are you sure?" he stammered.

_Jesus this guy is a bigger freak than me_, she thought. She tried to push away the annoyance she was feeling.

"Yeah it's fine. Besides Lauren is about to start her 'Hip Hop Beats Work Out' thing, it can be a bit distracting," Edward nodded. "Don't worry I promise not to jump you again," Bella said a little more harshly than she had intended.

Edward seemed to ignore her words as he entered the room. She could see his eyes darting around the room, he seemed to be trying to look at everything at once. His eyes rested on her unmade bed with her laptop nestled in the middle of the sheets. Then he spotted the chair by her desk which was opposite the bed, she watched as he made a bee-line for it. He seemed to relax a bit as he sat there, his legs were spread wide and he rested his elbows on his knees. However his discomfort showed through his incessant knuckle cracking.

Bella sighed and closed the door. She sat down in front of him, on the edge of her bed. She tucked her legs into a lotus position.

"So ..." Bella said.

"I didn't know you lived with Lauren," he said.

"Well aren't you finding out lots of new things about me recently, huh?" she said.

She knew she was being a bit difficult and probably sounded very petulant but this was new territory for her so she was feeling a little overwhelmed and defensive. Edward took a deep breath.

"Yeah I guess so," he said.

"Argh," Bella made a growling, frustrated noise that made him jump. "I'm sorry, look this is just really awkward. I don't know what to say," she admitted.

"Neither do I," Edward breathed a sigh of relief. There was a moment of silence. Then suddenly the beats from Lauren's hip hop workout dvd started to filter down the hall from the living room.

"I told you," Bella giggled as Edward laughed. The tension had been broken, they both felt it.

"Look I'm really sorry for what happened at Alice's. I reacted really badly, I'm an idiot." Edward said seriously. He was still hunched over leaning on his knees but he moved his head up and looked into Bella's eyes. She felt the sincerity in his gaze. Her impulse in that moment was to forgive him and kiss him all day, but she knew she needed to explain how she felt first.

"Your reaction made me feel really awful, like I had something to be ashamed of," Bella whispered.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that," he said with voice was filled with regret.

"What did you mean?"

"I guess just meant that anyones first time is a big deal and I don't want you to rush into it. I know we don't know each other very well but I'd really hate it if you ever regretted anything that we did together," he said earnestly. "I know that I am the guy that a lot of girls regret," he moved his head to the side, averting her eyes. "I don't call when I say I will, I'll probably forget your birthday, and I won't always say the right thing. I know you deserve better than me ..."

"Then why are you here?" Bella asked, cutting him off. She was irritated now.

"I'm here because I want to try. I don't want to be the guy you regret," he said quietly. "I couldn't stand it."

"I have my own shit too Edward, everyone does. Nobody is perfect, we're all a little fucked up," Bella said.

"I like when you swear, it's cute with your accent," he smiled.

"I shouldn't have said anything," Bella said in reference to what had happened at Alice's.

"No, no I'm glad you did. I want to know all this stuff about you," he sighed. "It's my fault too, I'm not a relationship kind of guy. I've never wanted to take a girl out for dinner and I've never felt protective of a girl before. But you? I've only known you, what a month? And I feel all those things, all these new things. But tonight I think I just slipped into old habits. I may be more ... experienced in some ways, but when it comes to being someone's boyfriend. I'm completely lost," Edward said, fisting his hands through his hair.

"I'm lost too," she said. "I don't know what I'm doing but I know that I feel drawn to you and I want to spend more time with you," she reached for his hands that were fidgeting around his knees. She wove her fingers between his, feeling the rough and the smooth skin. He watched their hands as she explored, when she was done he traced circles on the sensitive skin of her wrist making her shiver.

"When I met you that night at the bakery, I felt this immediate connection. I think I had even felt it before that, when I saw you at the hostel. I couldn't stop thinking about you, it felt like I'd been waiting to meet you. I thought I knew you but I don't, we don't know much about each other at all," he said softly. "I want to get to know you. I want to do this right," he finished with more urgency.

"Me too, I think we jumped into this too fast," Bella suggested.

"Let's go slow," he smiled.

"But not like glacial," Bella said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She gripped his T-shirt and pulled him towards her.

"No definitely not glacially slow, just slow," he said as he moved off the chair to get closer to her. She lay back on the bed so that Edward was hovering above her. His face was so close that it was almost out of focus. Her breath fanned across his face, he leaned in and kissed her lips lightly.

"Too slow," she whispered.

He laughed but was cut off when she stretched up to deepen the kiss. He sighed as she ran her hands up into his hair. His whole body seemed to relax into the kiss as he lay down on the bed with her.

She could feel the relief in his body now, the tension she had seen in him earlier was gone. Clearly their spat had taken it's toll. She tried not to let her niggling thoughts get to her, but she couldn't help but wonder if they were already coming up against these kind of emotions so early in their relationship what could possibly be up ahead?

Her thoughts were quickly silenced when Edward moved his attentions from her lips to her neck. She'd worry about logic later, right now the sensations she was feeling were enough to justify this. Eventually things cooled down and they lay side by side on Bella's bed while Edward played with her hair absentmindedly.

"What's your favorite color?" he asked suddenly a small smile playing on his lips.

"Green," Bella answered she was amused by his sudden question. "Yours?"

"This color," he said holding up a strand of her hair in the sunlight. "It's kind of a deep red or burgundy, I've never seen it before."

Bella blushed deeply.

"Ah, now that's another brilliant color," he said running his thumb over the apple of her cheek.

"Favorite food?" she said. She was trying to divert attention away from herself she knew he could tell what she was doing and was grateful when he let her away with it.

"Hamburgers," he said.

"Urgh, _so_ American," she murmured.

"I'm insulted!" he declared, tickling her sides.

"Ok, stop stop stop! I'm sorry!" she squealed. "I'm sorry for my defamatory remarks about American cuisine," she said once she'd caught her breath.

"Apology accepted. So what's your favorite food? Potatoes?"

"Now who's being rude?" she said. "But yes, I do enjoy a good spud," Bella said.

Edward laughed heartily. They continued with their quick fire questions. They covered any and every subject that sprung to mind. From movies, to music, to childhood pets. Bella was struck by Edward's interest, he seemed to want to know every little thing about her right at that moment. Bella was happy enough to learn things along the way, she was sure that in time they'd naturally learn about each other. Still, she indulged his interrogation because frankly his eagerness was endearing and flattering.

"Do you want to spend the day with me?" Edward asked shyly.

"Of course," Bella responded. "What would you like to do?"

"I'd like to show you some of my favorite places in the city. Well maybe just one or two, we'll see how far we get," he smiled. He kissed her forehead before leaving her alone to get ready.

She wondered if what she was wearing was appropriate, she didn't ask Edward – guys never knew how to answer that questions properly. But Bella decided she wouldn't worry about the details. An afternoon of learning about Edward was enough to entice her.

* * *

><p>AN: Thanks for reading :)<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Bella emerged from her room to find Edward sitting on the living room floor with Púca climbing all over him. She liked seeing him here – in her apartment, among her things.

"He likes you," she said.

Edward turned his head at the sound of her voice, she noticed his eyes lingering over her body, taking note of how she looked. She liked the attention and felt a small smile tug at her lips.

"Oh yeah, he resisted my charms at first but now we're like old friends," he smiled.

"It's surprising because he's usually kind of abrasive with strangers, he and Alice really don't get along," Bella said sitting behind Edward on the coach.

"Really? I can't imagine she let that go easily," Edward said glancing at Bella.

"No she certainly didn't. She's vowed to win him over, I'll let you know how it goes."

"No need, he'll tell me himself," Edward said seriously. He smiled crookedly at Bella as she laughed. Púca scampered away towards the window, probably hoping to make a quick escape.

"He alway leaves once he notices he isn't the centre of attention anymore," Bella said.

Edward chuckled and climbed onto the coach to sit next to Bella, he stretched his legs apart so that their knees were touching slightly.

"So where are we off to today?" she asked turning to face Edward.

"Well first I thought since you like art, I mean I know you visited MOMA so I assumed that you don't hate it," Edward said. He seemed shy all of a sudden. "Anyway I thought we'd visit the Frick Collection? If you want ..."

He looked at Bella hopefully, she was struck by how boyish he looked at that moment.

"I think that sounds great," she smiled leaning over to kiss his cheek.

He seemed relieved and Bella's heart swelled at the thought that he was trying to impress her. It made her feel special and relaxed, she was happy that she wasn't the only one trying. They gathered their things and headed to the nearest subway station. Bella was still trying to find her way around and though she was making progress she often found herself a little bit disorientated. But living in the East Village meant that she didn't have to travel far to get to work or to her friends' apartments. She was lucky that Rose had introduced her to Lauren, who for reasons unknown to Bella was renting her room for far less than it was worth. She made a mental note to ask Rose about it, but she was reluctant to rock the boat. _If it ain't broke don't fix it_, she thought.

Part of her enjoyed being led by Edward, not just because he knew more about New York than her. She liked the feeling that he would take care of her and protect her, she blushed at the thought because it seemed weak but she knew that being vulnerable with somebody took a lot of strength. She bravely reached for his hand, he looked a bit shocked that she had initiated the contact, but only for a moment. He glanced down at where their hands were joined and smiled. As they walked the short distance from the subway station to the museum Bella was struck by how happy she felt. In these moments she liked to take stock of what had made her so happy, so that she might remember the feelings in her darker moments. She noted the sun warming her skin, not strong enough to burn her but hot enough to flush her cheeks slightly. She tried to remember everything about the feel of Edward's hand in her's – his soft palm sticking gently to her own and his slightly calloused fingertips occasionally brushing against her hand. She also noticed the bustle of the city, when she was in a good mood she could appreciate the constant swell of people moving through the city. If New York was a body then the streets were it's veins and the people that pushed their way through it were it's life blood. Bella was becoming very attached to this city, the smells and noises had become familiar to her. The accents no longer sounded foreign in her ears and this made her happy – she felt like she was making a home here. Creating a new home as an immigrant is hard to do, she thought about what Edward had said about admiring her courage. She hadn't really thought about how far she'd come until now, as she walked hand in hand with her potential boyfriend in New York the day before she started a new job. She felt proud and hopeful for the future, it was a feeling that she hadn't had in a long time. _Savor it_, she thought.

When they reached the gallery Edward paid for them both, having refused to accept Bella's pleas to "go dutch". They walked around the gallery enjoying the atmosphere and the quiet, hushed tones that most people use in museums. They occasionally shared a fact or two about the paintings that they were looking at. Neither of them were particularly well versed in art history but they shared their initial gut reactions to the pieces and that was enough. Bella felt as if she was getting to know Edward in a round about way, which she noted is some how more satisfying than asking questions outright. She read into the paintings that he liked most, she asked for specific likes and dislikes of each painting – colors that stood out, shapes, textures, scenarios – and she linked certain traits to his answers. She filed all the information away in her mind – even the seemingly mundane – as she hoped that she could connect all the pieces together in order to figure him out. Edward caught on to what she was doing and he in turn asked her a number of questions all with the goal of learning everything he could about her.

After they left the museum Edward had taken Bella to lunch at a deli nearby, he was very enthusiastic about the food there. Bella had asked what he would recommend, he proceeded to regale her with an impassioned speech about his favorite sandwiches on the menu. When Bella laughed he pretended to be hurt, in truth he loved to make her laugh – even at his own expense. Afterwards Edward led Bella to Central Park since the weather was so nice.

"This is one of your favorite places?" she asked, not trying to disguise the surprise in her voice.

"No not a favorite place but it's close by and I do like it here," he said smiling.

"I really like it here, I love parks that are in the middle of cities. There's something so contradictory about them. Like you get so far in and you kind of forget that just beyond the fence there is a sprawling city. The Phoenix Park is like that in Dublin, it was one of my favorite place to go," Bella sighed remembering the things she left behind.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Edward asked, he wanted to bring her back to the present. He had become quite adept at noticing when her eyes glazed over and she retreated to the past, he didn't think it was a bad thing, but he felt disconnected from her in those moments.

"No. You?" she answered.

"No but Alice and Emmet have always been like siblings to me. They're more than cousins, you know?" he said seriously.

"Yeah, I get that. My friends have always been like that for me. Jake is my best friend, he's like a brother to me."

"Jake?" Edward said. "Your best friend is a guy?"

"Yeah," Bella said sounding unsure, "we grew up together. We weren't always part of the same group of friends but he's always been there for me. He's planning to visit me here once I get settled in work."

"Cool," Edward said unconvincingly.

"Tell me about your parents," Bella said trying to move on.

"Uh well, it's a bit heavy ..." Edward said shifting his gaze around.

"Oh you don't have to tell me, I don't want to pry," Bella said feeling a bit awkward.

"No, no it's fine I want to tell you," Edward said. "I just don't really talk about it with people. You know how most people are – they think they want to know but they, not don't really."

Bella nodded in understanding. She knew what he meant, she may not have experienced great loss but she knew pain. Edward sat on the grass and Bella followed, she leaned against a tree and waited for him to continue.

"My mom died when I was sixteen, she had cancer," he said after a pause.

"Oh Edward I'm sorry," Bella said reaching for his hand. He laced his fingers through her's and squeezed gently to let her know he was ok.

"It was a long time ago but I still miss her, I felt really alone afterwards. I just ... I don't know," Edward took a breath and seemed to be gathering his thoughts before he went on. "I knew she was sick, I'm not an idiot. But it never occurred to me that she would die. She was my mom, I thought she would pull through. I thought, people survive cancer all the time so she will too," he shrugged. "Sounds pretty stupid now that I've said it out loud."

"No," Bella said firmly. "It doesn't, I can see why you thought that. Parents always seem indestructible, they're always fixing us and making us feel better. It's not stupid at all Edward," Bella said as she moved to sit beside him. She rested her head on his shoulder and he sighed contentedly.

"What about your dad?" Bella asked. She regretted asking when she heard his sharp intake of breath. But before she could tell him he didn't need to tell her, he was already speaking.

"My dad couldn't handle anything after Mom died. He completely shut down, he was heart broken," Edward said slowly. Bella got the feeling that he was more uncomfortable talking about his dad than he had been about his mother.

"About ten months after Mom died he killed himself," Edward's voice was cold and hard.

"Edward, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry," she said moving around to face him again.

"It's ok, really I wanted to tell you. I'm actually glad you brought it up it's sort of hard to work it into conversation. What?" he asked looking into her sad eyes. He reached up to touch her cheek.

"You were only sixteen," Bella said quietly, leaning into his touch. He looked away, avoiding her gaze.

"Don't feel sorry for me, I can't stand that," he dropped his hand from her cheek.

"I don't feel sorry for you, well I do but you shouldn't take it as a bad thing," Bella said defensively. "I care about you and it's just hard to hear that those things happened to you. That's all. I didn't mean to offend you," she said.

"I know, I didn't mean it to sound so harsh but ever since my mom died I've had people pity me and it just gets on my nerves," Edward said. Bella looked into his eyes, he was pleading with her to understand.

"I understand. So, what did you do after that? I mean who did you stay with?" Bella asked.

"I moved in with Carlisle and Esme," Edward said. "Carlisle is my mom's brother, we had always been close but it was still weird at first. I felt like an outsider, like I was a burden. The first six months were terrible, I was a pain in the ass," he laughed shortly then his face was serious again. "Carlisle and Esme never gave up on me though, they kept trying to help me. Every time I pushed them away or broke their rules they would just keep standing by me. It got really frustrating trying to make them hate me so one day I gave up. I started going to the therapy they were offering, I apologized for my behavior, for the drinking, the drugs, the girls. That had really bothered Esme, the way that I'd treated girls who had obviously really liked me."

Bella saw the shame etched across Edward's face. It made her heart lurch, he was carrying around a lot of guilt and anger. It was understandable but Bella still wished she could take it all away from him.

"I'm sure she knows you were going through a really difficult time," Bella said.

"Yeah, I hope so," he said with a sad smile.

"Well," Bella said exhaling, "you've really had a lot of sadness in your life?" Edward nodded. "But I think you're due a lot of happiness, Edward," Bella said. She didn't want to change the subject, but she didn't want to push him to talk about something so sad when they had had such a nice day so far. She wanted this to be a good memory for him – for both of them.

"You make me happy," he said moving around so that Bella was lying on the grass and he was leaning above her.

"I'm glad to hear it," she smiled and pressed a sweet kiss on his lips.

"Thank you," he said.

"For what?" Bella asked, a small crease formed between her eyebrows in confusion.

"Just for listening to me and then going back to normal. I don't think anyone who I've known was able to treat me the same after hearing about my parents," he said.

"Oh, well you're welcome," Bella said she reached up to rub the tips of their noses together in an 'eskimo kiss'. Edward laughed and kissed her with urgency, he didn't seem to mind the joggers or the tourists that were milling around the park. Bella could tell that she was his only concern in that moment. She threaded her fingers through his hair as she pushed her tongue into his mouth. He groaned and massaged her tongue with his own, they explored each other passionately and shamelessly. _Well, you only live once_, Bella thought feeling uncharacteristically brazen.

"Edward," Bella gasped when they finally broke apart both breathing heavily. "We need to stop before we get arrested," she said. They laughed as Edward plucked a bit of grass out of Bella's now tousled hair.

"You're probably right," Edward sighed.

As they brushed the stray blades of grass off their clothes Bella's phone buzzed. Edward looked up inquisitively.

"It's Rose, she wants me to meet her at Alice's bakery," Bella said.

"Well I guess I should let them spend some time with you, I think I've been monopolizing you," Edward said offering her his hand. "Did you tell her that we're ok now?" he asked. She knew that he was referring to their fight from the previous night.

"Yeah I did. I texted her before we left my apartment," she said.

"Good. I got a threatening message from her earlier. I think it should be safe now though, so can I walk you over there?" Edward asked squeezing her hand gently.

"I'd love that," Bella said smiling.

* * *

><p>As they walked through the park towards Alice's bakery, Edward asked Bella about her new job.<p>

"Are you nervous?" he asked.

"A bit ... actually a lot if I'm honest," she laughed. "I'm just worried that I won't fit in or that I'll say something weird, maybe an Irish-ism that nobody will understand!"

"Well you don't have to worry about that, you're very likable Bella, even with your Irish-isms" he said nudging her when he noticed that she was blushing. "In fact I'm a little worried that you'll be too popular," he said quietly.

"What does that mean?" Bella laughed.

"Nothing, I just mean you're very beautiful and you've got a cute accent so guys are going to be very interested in you. I just hope you don't forget about your boyfriend," Edward said as he snuck a glance at her from the corner of his eye.

"Oh my boyfriend? And who might he be?" Bella teased.

"I'd like to think that he was me," Edward said wrapping his arm around her waist.

"I'd like to think that too," Bella said coyly.

"Ok let's both think that then," Edward said smiling.

Bella's laugh was cut off when his lips met her's in a kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it :)<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Bella sat nervously at breakfast with Alice on the morning of her first day at work. She didn't know what to expect and that was making her more than a little nervous. She was fidgeting and bouncing her leg up and down. She was trying to focus on what Alice was saying to take her mind off where she was going today.

"I can't believe you're just on your way home now," Bella said. "I could never work those hours."

"I'm so used to it now, a 4am start is actually quite late really," Alice said taking a sip from her smoothie. "Although I will take a nap later," she said yawning.

"I should think so," Bella laughed.

"So are you and Edward really ok now? I know Rose and I have been asking a lot but we just want to be sure," Alice asked nervously.

"Yeah, we sorted everything out and we hung out yesterday it was really nice," Bella said.

"I'm so relieved!" Alice said sighing. Bella looked at her curiously. "I was so worried that he'd fucked up and that you'd be too mad to hang out with me," Alice explained quickly. "So I'm just really pleased that he's made it up to you."

Bella found it strange to see Alice so frazzled, she normally took everything in her stride. So it was odd for Bella to have to calm her down and reassure her that everything was okay.

"It wasn't all Edward's fault, I freaked out too. But we've sorted it out now and we've been learning a lot about each other," Bella said as she rearranged the food on her plate nervously. "He ... uh... told me about his parents," she finally said.

The silence that hung between them after she had mentioned Edward's parents made Bella panic. Perhaps she shouldn't have said anything, had she betrayed Edward's trust. Bella stared into Alice's eyes which were now as wide as saucers.

"He did?" she spluttered.

"Yeah, about his mom and what happened with his dad. How he moved in with your family, everything I think," Bella said still feeling unsure.

"Yeah that sounds like everything," Alice said slumping back into her chair.

"Should I not have mentioned it? I don't want to make things awkward ..." Bella asked.

"It's not that, I'm just amazed that he told you. He's always been very wary of telling people about his past, particularly about his parents," Alice said. She seemed to contemplate something for a moment. "He's a great guy, really he his. As long as he doesn't shut you out and I'm so glad that he is talking to you," she said.

"He told me that your mom was upset with how he treated girls," Bella said.

Alice took a deep breath, steadying herself before she continued.

"When he transferred to our school it was the worst, I mean for him," Alice corrected when she saw the shocked expression on Bella's face. "I loved having him there. He's older than me and I thought he was cool, I knew he was going through a lot so I wanted to make him feel welcomed and loved but I guess I came across as really overbearing and insane," Alice said laughing.

"You? Never!" Bella teased.

"Don't interrupt! Do you want me to tell you the story or not?" Alice asked in a mock serious tone.

"My apologies, I don't know what came over me. Please, do go on," Bella said grinning at her friend.

"Alright then," Alice said before continuing. "High school girls are all ridiculous, I'm sure it's the same all over the world. But at that age – like 16, 17, 18 – most girls are crazy! They have this radar for guys that are hurt or damaged or those rebel types you know? Yeah, anyway Edward pretty much fitted into all of those boxes. Girls loved him. They tried everything to get his attention," she paused. It seemed as though she was deciding whether to go on or not.

_ Maybe she's editing the story to protect him_, Bella thought.

"A lot of them did get his attention, but none of them held it for very long. He hurt a lot of them," she said. Her voice was full of regret. "It wasn't like he was cruel or cheated on any of them. None of them were long term relationships. He just didn't give them what they wanted. Come to think of it, they probably didn't know what they wanted from him at the time. But I think they just wanted him to care about them. I noticed it most in their reaction to how he was with me. He was very protective of me and they hated me for it. I'm not mad with him about that, I never was. I was protective of him too, I would have defended him to the very end."

Bella recognized a fierceness in Alice's eyes, which she respected.

"He told me a bit about that, only in passing. We haven't really had the whole 'past relationships' talk," Bella said. "But we will," she added confidently.

"I'm glad he's opening up to you. I think you two will be really great together," Alice said returning to her chipper attitude that Bella had come to know so well. They chatted about work and their plans for the weekend before they went their separate ways.

* * *

><p>When Bella arrived at Whitman House she squared her shoulders bracing herself to begin her new journey. As Bella rode the elevator to her new job her stomach fluttered and she felt light headed. Edward had text her to wish her good luck. She smiled and replied to thank him for thinking of her. She was still adjusting to having a boyfriend, never mind such a thoughtful one.<p>

When the elevator arrived at her floor she walked up the receptionist's desk to ask where she should go.

"Ah Isabella yes, I'll show you to your cubicle," Victoria said.

"Ok thanks," Bella followed Victoria to a cubicle beside the window, it had a reasonable view which surprised Bella.

"Bob will be here in a few minutes, he'll be your immediate supervisor. Why don't you get aquatinted with your computer, sign into your email all that stuff. All the details are in your welcome pack," Victoria said handing her a thin red binder.

"Sure, ok, great. Thanks," Bella said as Victoria walked away.

Bella read through the binder a few times, gave herself a professional sounding signature for her email and then decided to re-read the welcome pack just one more time. She was halfway through when a man she hoped was Bob came striding towards her.

"Hi Isabella? I'm Bob Banner, it's nice to have you with us," he said cheerily with his hand extended.

"Nice to meet you Bob, you can call me Bella," she said shaking his hand.

"What a lovely accent, Bella. Where are you from?" he asked as he pulled over a chair to sit beside her.

"Ireland," she said not sure about how much to elaborate.

"Ah the Emerald Isle, very nice. Well let's get you set up here. Oh I see you've already got a welcome pack and you're signed into your email? I guess you don't need me here, maybe I should take a half day!" Bob said nudging Bella with his elbow.

_Is that my queue to laugh?_ Bella thought.

It seemed so, he was pleased when she did laughed and it didn't seem to occur to him that she was forcing it a bit. Over the next half hour Bella tried to take in as much of what Bob was saying as possible. She was going to be making ebooks, the HTML seemed simple enough when Bob explained it so she wasn't too worried about that. She would have to proofread the final file before sending it to Bob who would check it over before it went 'live'. Bob was hoping to build a bigger digital content team once the budget allowed for it, but in the mean time it was just the two of them converting the house's substantial back catalogue. He gave her a hardcopy of the first book she'd be converting, he told her to take the whole week to work on it. Perfection was as important as speed, but if he had to choose between the two he said he'd choose perfection. He gave her a brisk run through of the programs she'd be using and some common problems to look out for, then it was on to a tour of the office. As Bob flew through the office Bella tried to keep up with him and take in all the names, faces and departments that he was pointing out. Her head was spinning. She did retain the names of one other newbie starting today Mike, the blond guy with the gelled hair from her the day of her interview.

_No bow tie today?_ Bella thought. _Mike you have let yourself go!_

Despite her teasing thoughts Bella resolved to seek him out at lunch, perhaps they could share first day horror stories.

"Well that's the grand tour. I'll leave you to get started if you need anything my extension is 425 but I would suggest that you try to get answers yourself, it's really the best way to learn," Bob said when they arrived back at Bella's desk.

"Will do, thanks Bob," she said as he headed back to his office.

Bella liked Bob, he was a geek. He loved information and knowledge, sharing tidbits of interest. Bella loved his apparent shameless thirst for knowledge, it was something she respected in others. She spent the next hour trying to iron out some kinks in the file she was working on. It was going well and when 11 o'clock rolled along she felt as though she had really earned her coffee break. On her way to the break room she as accosted by a small girl with dark brown hair, she wore an over zealous grin on her face that felt fake to Bella.

"Hi, I'm Jessica! You must be Isabella?" she asked rhetorically but Bella answered her anyway.

"Nice to meet you Jessica. Yeah, I just started in the digital department today. You can call me Bella," she said as they waited in line for the coffee machine.

"Cool, I guess I'm kind of still new here too. I joined about two months ago I work in the publicity department and I love it!" she was gushing.

_Where is this energy coming from?_ Bella wondered.

"That's great, it seems like a really friendly company," Bella said as she poured a cup of coffee .

"I was so happy to get the job. I had just finished an internship with Kangaroo Press when I got offered a position here," Jessica said as they walked over to an empty table.

"Oh, is the commissioning editor their namedAro? I think I met him at Angela Weber's book launch," Bella said happy to find something in common to talk about.

"Yes that's him," Jessica said dismissively. "I didn't really have a great experience there, to be honest it was kind of horrible. Aro is just awful," Jessica whispered. "I've heard some things about him from the girls I worked with, apparently it always comes down to you know, how far a girl will go," she said raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"I see," Bella said. She felt shocked by the news, she had thought he seemed like a nice enough man, maybe a little rude but she was bothered by the fact that she had hoped to impress him at one point.

"Luckily for me I got out of there before it ever came to that," Jessica said.

"Absolutely," Bella agreed.

"Oh my god! Are you Irish? That is so cool," Jessica said changing the subject.

"Glad to hear it," Bella laughed.

"I've always wanted to go to Europe, I think it's such a romantic place," Jessica said.

Bella smiled to herself at the irony, all of the most romantic moments in her life up until now had happened here in America, with Edward. But she understood what Jessica meant, Europe is old and seeped in history. Castles and ghost stories have a romance and lure about them.

Bella and Jessica chatted about what to do in New York and they agreed that they would meet for lunch later in the canteen.

"I'll show you which server gives the most generous portions," Jessica smiled.

"Great thanks, see you later," Bella said.

Lunch rolled around quickly, Bella couldn't help but marvel at how well her first day was going. She checked her phone before she went to the cafeteria to meet Jessica. Her heart leapt when she saw that there was one new message from Edward.

_Hey, can I meet you after work? E x_

_ Of course! I finish at 5. Maybe we can have dinner at my place? B xx_

Bella couldn't fight the smile on her face as she made her way to the cafeteria. Her phone buzzed alerting her to a new message.

_Sounds good, I'll see you then :) E xx_

Bella planned to get take out and then attempt to get closer to having her way with Edward afterwards. She respected that he didn't want to push her and she agreed that they should wait and get to know each other more. But as usual her body did not agree with what her brain was thinking, so anytime she saw him all she wanted to do was jump him.

Once she had bought some lunch she found Jessica sitting alone and looking very unhappy about it. When Jessica spotted Bella her face lit up and she started waving. Bella gave her a small nod to calm her down and weaved through the tables to where she was sitting.

"Hi, you look happy," Jessica said inquiringly.

"Yeah? I did just make plans with my boyfriend so I guess that's why," Bella said as she sat down.

"Urgh I am so jealous, I'm chronically single! Like no joke, it's been a long time. If you know what I mean," Jessica said grinning at Bella.

_TMI? _Bella thought, but she smiled and nodded at Jessica.

"Hey could you set me up with one of his friends?" Jessica asked.

"Oh ... uh ... well," Bella struggled with how awkward she found Jessica's forwardness. "You know Jessica I would love to, but it's all very new and I don't know his friends very well," Bella said apologetically.

"Oh sure, no problem," Jessica said clearly disappointed.

Bella did want to help Jessica but really didn't want to put Edward in an awkward position so she decided to change the subject. Luckily just as she was searching for a topic to introduce, she notice Mike walking slowing through the tables and looking a bit lost.

"Oh look there's Mike, he's new too. Hey Mike!" Bella said waving, she slowed down her wave when she remembered how Jessica had looked earlier. Suddenly embarrassed Bella was glad that she had managed to get Mike's attention quickly. He smiled and joined them at their table.

"Hi Mike, I'm Bella I don't know if you remember me from our interview?" Bella said.

"Oh sure I remember you, congrats on getting the job," he said.

"You too," Bella laughed.

Jessica coughed to get Bella's attention.

"Oh sorry, this is Jessica she works in the PR department," Bella said.

"Hi Mike," Jessica said in a weird voice which Bella assumed was her 'sexy' voice.

"Hi," Mike said. "So how long have you been in America Bella, have you been looking for a job for long?"

"I actually have only been here a little while so I haven't been looking for too long, it worked out well. Timing wise anyway," Bella said sipping her coffee.

"Sounds like you've really got the luck of the Irish," Mike said. He was desperately trying to make her laugh. Bella forced a small laugh.

"Mike you are so hilarious!" Jessica said, placing her hand on his arm.

Lunch continued on in a similar fashion. Mike tried to make Bella laugh and Jessica continued to vie for his attention. There are always a lot of people that one meets on the first week of living in a new country, the urge to make connections and lay down roots can be overwhelming. Most of these connections are not strong enough to last. She wondered if Mike and Jessica would be a lasting connection, she also wondered if she wanted them to be.

The rest of the day passed quickly, Bella felt like she was making great progress with what she was working on. As she left that day she felt really positive about where she was going and about her move to New York.

* * *

><p>Edward arrived at Bella's apartment at 7 o'clock. Bella had been tidying her apartment and feeling very grateful that Lauren had gone to visit her parents for the weekend. When Edward knocked on her door she practically skipped down the hall to answer it.<p>

"Hi," she said. "You brought pizza! Now I really am happy to see you," she teased.

He grinned as he leaned in to kiss her and she melted into him. She pulled back, aware that they should eat before she let herself get carried away.

They settled down in the living room in front of the TV with some beers and the pizza. Bella noted how much she was enjoying having Edward here, the last time he'd been in her apartment she'd felt almost overwhelmed by his presence. He seemed more relaxed too, sitting on the floor leaning against the sofa.

"So how did your first day go?" he asked, opening a beer and passing it to her.

"It went really well actually. The people are really nice and I think I like what I'm working on," she said.

"You think?" he asked looking a bit confused.

"Yeah, I mean it's too early to tell if I really like it or if I'm even doing it right," she explained, "but generally speaking yeah I like it," she said smiling. "Tell me about your job," she asked taking a slice of pizza.

"Well, I'm a teacher. I teach English as a second language," Edward said.

"Is that always what you wanted to do?"

"No, I wanted to be a writer. But after college I needed a job and writing doesn't really pay the bills," he said.

"But if it's what you love, you should make time for it," she said.

"I do, I still write but it's just for me. I don't show it to other people or ever intend to publish it," Edward said.

"Good it's important to do things like that, I think anyway," Bella said, suddenly cringing at how preachy she was being. "But I don't mean to lecture you I just want you to be happy. What do you like about teaching?" she asked.

"I just like helping people, a lot of my students are adult learners so they're eager and it's important to them to improve their language skills. It's really important to them, it means getting a job and being able to communicate with people," Edward stopped he seemed a little shy all of a sudden as though he had said too much. "It's corny I know ..." he said. Bella sensed that he was about to backtrack.

"No, I think it's amazing. What you do is really important," she said sincerely.

"Thanks, I feel pretty passionate about it even though it wasn't my first choice," he said.

Bella turned on the TV and flipped through the channels looking for something for them to look at should the conversation die. She suddenly became panicked as she searched through the channels. She wanted something easy going, that would act as a back-up but not dominate the conversation. Edward seemed oblivious to her panic so she settled abruptly on some generic sitcom complete with canned laughter, no thinking necessary. _Perfect_, Bella thought to herself. They ate in companionable silence for a bit, laughing every so often at the antics on screen.

Edward had moved to sit beside Bella on the couch, he'd draped an arm around her shoulders and she cuddled into his side. After a few minutes she began feeling impatient as she waited for Edward to make a move , eventually she took it upon herself to get things started. She started kissing his neck and then kissed along his jaw, their eyes met just as she moved to sit on his lap. He smiled at her forwardness and kissed her in return. His hands rested on her hips, he wasn't moving very much and she took this as a sign that he was uncertain about something, but she was determined to take to the lead.

"This couch is too small," Bella said against his lips.

"Mmm," he replied as his lips traveled down her neck.

"Do you want to move to my bedroom?" she asked breathlessly.

Edward's lips stilled against her neck, he lifted his eyes to read her expression. She could see that he was still unsure.

"We don't have to go any further but this would be more comfortable on a bed," she urged shyly.

"Yeah you're right," he said taking her hand and leading her towards her room.

She sat on the bed and pulled him down on top of her slowly. She began kissing him hungrily, any reservations that he'd had seemed to have been forgotten.

"So much for taking things slow," he joked as if reading her thoughts. She giggled and continued to kiss him, hoping to convey with her lips that this was what she wanted so that he wouldn't feel guilty.

She rolled them over and sat up with her legs on either side of him. His eyes followed her hands as she reached for the hem of her top, she kept her eyes on his face as she slowly pulled her top up over her head and threw it to the end of the bed. Edward's lips were parted slightly and he sucked in a breath when he saw her reach around to unclasp her bra. She noticed his eyes dart to her's as the straps fell slack around her shoulders. She slowly removed her arms from the straps while holding the cups against her breasts. Bella felt Edward twitch beneath her, she felt a pulse between her legs. A sudden rush of adrenaline shot through her as she removed her bra completely and tossed it to the end of the bed. So there she sat topless with Edward lying under her. His breaths were somewhat ragged and uneven, but his hands still lay at his sides. She was getting impatient again.

"Touch me, Edward," she said quietly, trying to fight the insecurities that were creeping in due to his inaction.

He looked into her eyes and slowly raised his hand to her right breast. They both gasped when he finally did touch her. His hand cupped her from beneath, it was as though he was just enjoying the weight of her in his hand. Then his fingers ghosted gently across her nipple. She gasped and rolled her hips against him. Her unconscious act seemed to light a fire in Edward. He flipped them over so that he was back on top, back in control. His hands seemed to be everywhere all at once. He continued to roll her nipple between his fingers as he kissed her. Bella felt like her skin was on fire, she suddenly had to see more of him. She pulled his shirt off and pushed him away slightly so she could appreciate the vast expanse of his chest, there was a light smattering of hair that narrowed and thickened the further south her eyes traveled. He took deep, steadying breaths as her hands explored this new territory. Eventually she let her hands travel back up to his hair, she pulled him into another kiss and his hands resumed their exploration of her breasts. She was grinding against his leg, desperate for some friction.

"Edward please," she begged. She wasn't sure what she was so desperate for but she knew he could give it to her.

His hand moved to the waist band of her pants, his eyes asked for permission to continue. Bella exhaled with need and nodded, to make sure there was no delay she took his wrist and guided his hand under the waist band. They both groaned when he finally touched her. His fingers slipped into her easily, she was more than ready for this. His fingers moved slowly and expertly as he brought her to the release she needed. As his fingers worked her into a frenzy his lips continued to kiss, lick and nip at her breasts. Bella had never felt so many sensations before, she writhed and squirmed in pleasure. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware that the noises she was making should be embarrassing. She was groaning Edward's name and begging him not to stop, however the pleasure was such that she didn't care how she sounded. Finally she reached her peak and tumbled, gasping and quivering into a seemingly endless chasm of pleasure.

"That was unbelievable," she said when she regained the power of speech.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Edward said kissing her shoulder, his voice was thick and husky. It made a pulse shoot through her.

"Do you want me to?" Bella said reaching for the zipper of his jeans, hoping to assist with his notable bulge. He surprised her when he took her hands in his and gently kissed them.

"Not tonight, tonight was about you. I wanted this to be all about you, we've got all the time in the world to share this," he said kissing her forehead. "You're exhausted, you should sleep Bella."

"Will you stay?" she asked.

"If you want me to," Edward said.

"Of course I want you to, take your jeans off," she said as she snuggled under the duvet.

Edward did as he was told and then joined her under the covers. Bella kissed him sweetly.

"Thank you for being so wonderful," she said. Then she turned onto her side so that her back was pressed against his chest. He put his arm around her and kissed her hair.

"Goodnight, my Bella," he whispered.

* * *

><p>AN: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I really appreciate hearing from you all xx<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Hi *waves* Sorry I haven't updated this in such a long time, life has been crazy. I do plan on finishing this story and I'm hoping to be updating more regularly in the future! **

**Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. This is just for fun, enjoy :)**

* * *

><p>Chapter 11<p>

She wasn't sure what had inspired her bold moves last night. Maybe it was the beer or the confidence boost she'd gotten after a successful first day at work. Whatever the cause Bella felt pleased with how last night had gone. Very pleased indeed. She stretched out and reached for Edward but was greeted by an empty, cold space to her left. She looked around and found that he was gone. Her cheeks flushed and she felt tears spring to her eyes, but she pushed them back to make way for the anger she was also feeling.

"Urgh, if that fucking eejit left, I swear I'll–" she stopped short as Edward walked into the room looking confused and – she had to admit – adorable.

"So ... I guess I'm the _eejit_?" he raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed even deeper.

"I thought that you'd left without saying anything, but since you haven't ... no, you're not an eejit," she said pulling him towards the bed. She smiled mischievously but Edward looked serious and shy, she guessed that he was feeling awkward about last night.

"I wouldn't have left like that, not after last night," he spoke quietly. His hands moved to her upper arms, he rubbed his hands up and down as though he was trying to keep her warm. She eyed him suspiciously. He looked her in the eye before continuing. "Are you ok? Last night, I mean. It wasn't too much was it? I'm sorry if I ..."

"Edward, do not freak out. An eejit would freak out, and we've just established that you aren't an eejit," she was flooded with relief when he gave her a small smile. "I'm fine, better than fine!" Bella continued. She spread her hands across his chest and spoke quietly. "I'm better than fine, I feel so close to you right now and it's because of what happened last night."

He didn't look convinced, she looped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. She let her hands wander over his broad shoulders, enjoying the feel of his muscles flexing slightly under his t-shirt. When they pulled apart Edward eyes were hooded and Bella felt her heart jump at the sight.

"See?" she whispered, her hand gripping the front of his t-shirt. "I'm perfectly fine."

Edward gulped and nodded, "Yes you are," he smiled and cleared his throat, "I made pancakes."

"Oooh, now I'm really glad you stayed," she pecked his lips quickly and skipped towards the kitchen. "And you made coffee, you _are_ Prince Charming!" she gasped as she entered the kitchen.

"Prince Charming makes pancakes and coffee?"

"In my fairy tale he does," she said handing him a plate.

"Fair enough."

"Oh my god, these pancakes are amazing!" Bella mumbled with her mouth full.

"Why thank you."

"No seriously, they're so fluffy and sweet."

Edward smiled and poured some coffee in her cup and placed kiss on her forehead.

"I'm glad you like them," he sniggered as he watched her eat happily.

"Urgh I'm stuffed," Bella leaned back resting her hands on her stomach. "What are your plans for today?"

"Well work of course but I have a few hours before I have to go, but uh I guess you better get ready huh?"

"Yeah I guess, pffft."

"Pfft? It's only your second day, I thought it was going well. You didn't let any 'Irishisms' slip did you?"

"No I didn't," Bella said gently kicking his shin under the table. "I'd just rather be spending the day with you."

Edward looked surprised by her admission.

"You know so that I can have pancakes when ever I feel like it," Bella said trying to cover up her embarrassment.

"Oh sure sure," Edward smiled. He leaned across the table and kissed her forehead. "I'd prefer to spend the day with you too," he said softly.

Bella ran her fingers through his hair and sighed.

"Good," she whispered back.

They stayed like that for a few moments, with their foreheads pressed together.

"I better get ready," Bella finally broke the silence.

Edward made a growling sound, making Bella giggle.

"Can I take you to dinner tonight?" Edward asked.

"I would love to but I made plans with Alice and Rosalie. Alice is really excited about it."

"Sounds ominous."

"I'll tell her you said that!" Bella laughed.

"I'm not scared of her," Edward said.

"Oh sure, sure!" Bella teased. "So, raincheck?"

"Absolutely, I'll call you."

Edward kissed Bella goodbye, causing her breath to catch.

"You're very good at that," she said.

"Only with the right person." He smiled at her devilishly, fully aware of what he was doing.

"Ok I'll see you later, stud," Bella said rolling her eyes.

"I'll call you, have a great day," Edward said on his way out.

* * *

><p>Bella found it easy to forget about Ireland when she was at work, the monotony distracted her from over thinking her last conversation with Jake. She had drafted many emails to him, all of which she had felt sounded too clunky and awkward – so she had chosen instead to send a quick message to say she hoped he was well and they must chat again soon. He hadn't responded yet, and now that was what she was distracting herself from.<p>

It was almost lunch time and Bella was just finished proofreading a particularly messy title. She'd been grateful for the challenge, it served to occupy her mind. She was daydreaming about Edward when a figure caught her eye, it was Mike shuffling around near her desk. He had no reason to be there, so she knew he was trying to get her attention or he was building up to say something to her. She hated to assume that that was what he was doing but it was obvious, embarrassingly so.

"Hey Mike," she said trying not to sound annoyed.

"Oh hi Bella I didn't know that you sat here, I was just looking for the uh, the stationary-I -mean-photocopier," he babbled trailing off.

"Right, well the photocopier is over there," she pointed to the other side of the room. She didn't want to seem rude so she decided to make conversation, after all Mike seemed pretty harmless. "So Mike how are you? Are you enjoying working here?" she said smiling.

"Sure, it's awesome. I really like it, it's fascinating," he said in a rush.

"Cool, what department are you with?"

"Contracts," Mike said nodding slowing.

Bella nodded and wondered how fascinating the Contracts department could be.

"Well, I better get back to the photocopier – now that I know where it is," Mike said giving Bella a cheesy smile.

"Indeed, see you around Mike," she said.

He saluted her and sauntered away.

Bella cringed.

After another awkward lunch with Mike and Jessica, Bella was ambushed by Victoria on the way back to her desk.

"Hi Isabella! I'm Victoria we met at your interview, I'm Suzie's assistant and I'm also the head of the party committee," she said, as though it was a religious vocation.

Bella nodded and smiled unsure why this should be of interest to her. On seeing Bella's blank expression Victoria pressed on.

"We're organizing a sort of welcome party for all the new guys we've got. We'll be going to Sunset, it's just around the corner. Happy is from 5pm, so you'll be there?"

Bella sighed quietly she really didn't feel like going but knew that she had to try to fit in and seem like a part of the team. After all she wanted to secure this job and get her contract renewed.

"Sure, that sounds fun," she said in what she hoped was a perky tone.

"Great! We'll leave after work so I'll send an email round later with the details," she smiled brilliantly and bounced away.

Bella felt a sinking feeling inside, what if the rest of her coworkers didn't like her? She suddenly felt very alone and worried. This feeling reminded her of her school days, feeling like an outsider and trying to get accepted into a clique – there's safety in numbers. She squared her shoulders and sat a little straighter in her chair. _No_, she thought, _this is a new beginning. I must try to be a part of this team, so I will put on my big girl panties and make friends_. She didn't totally believe her own pep talk but she knew that the main points were true. She had to make an effort, she had been adopted by Alice and her friends – which she was grateful for. How could anyone not be thankful for a ready made friendship group. But she had to try to make some friends at work, at least some people she could chat to in the break room – other than Mike and Jessica.

After work Bella was thrilled to meet up with Rose and Alice. When she met Rose and Alice at the restaurant they fell into a familiar chat that Bella had grown to enjoy so much. They laughed and shared stories about their boyfriends, coworkers and room mates. Over dessert, after they had consumed an impressive amount of wine, Alice declared that they should take a vacation together so that Bella would have a chance to see some other parts of the country.

"I really want to see some more of America, I mean who knows how long I'll be here you know," Bella said with a shrug.

"I want you to travel too, but you will be here for a very long time. Even if I have to marry you myself!" Alice declared.

"Ok, ok! I didn't mean I'd be leaving like today or tomorrow just you know I want to live in the moment," Bella said giving Alice's hand a squeeze.

"I think it's a great idea," Rose said. "Oh but Bella can you get time off work so soon after you've started?"

"Actually I can, my supervisor mentioned that he was taking a vacation in 3 weeks time. Since we work so closely he suggested that we take our vacation at the same time, he hopes we'll be more efficient that way."

"It's settled then, my parents have a beach house in the Hamptons. They won't mind us using it. You'll love it and this is the perfect time to go it won't be super busy," Alice gushed.

"Huh, I would never have expected you to say something so antisocial Alice, I'm shocked!" Bella declared.

"I'm not being antisocial it's just sometimes nice when it's not all full of people," she explained.

"Sounds good, but the boys will have to come too. Emmet will not be pleased if we go without him!" Rose said rolling her eyes.

"I think it will be nice to have them come too," Bella said shyly.

"You would! You and Edward are still in the honeymoon phase. All loved up. You wait, that doesn't last," Rose said as she waved her wine glass around.

"Rose! That's so cynical. I've seen how you look at Emmet, you guys are pretty 'loved up' yourselves!" Bella retorted.

"Whoo, go Bella!" Alice chimed in.

"Alright ladies I think it's time we left, you know before we get thrown out! We're getting a little bit rowdy," Rose said throwing Alice a sideways glance. They said their goodbyes and agreed to arrange the vacation over email in the coming days.

As she was leaving the restaurant Bella sent a quick text to Edward;

_Hey, just leaving the restaurant now. Meet me at my place? ;) x x_

She received a very swift response;

_On my way x_

She sniggered at his eagerness, but was emboldened by it at the same time. She had to admit she enjoyed fooling around with Edward but her significant lack of experience sometimes made her feel a bit self conscious. So it was nice when Edward appeared keen, it made her feel sexy – something that she struggled with.

* * *

><p>Later as she lay on her bed with Edward running his fingers through her hair, her phone beeped. She'd reached for it and sat bolt up right when she saw who it was from. Edward stared wide eyed at her sudden movements.<p>

"Oh it's from Jake!" Bella was clearly delighted.

"Who's Jake?"

"My best friend"

"You're best friend is a guy?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Huh, is he gay?"

"No?"

This was not the answer he'd been hoping for.

"What is wrong with you?" Bella asked.

"Nothing it's just unusual for girls to have a guy for a best friend."

"No it's not, we've known each other forever. He's like a brother to me."

Edward didn't respond, but Bella could feel the jealousy radiating from him. She was busy replying to Jake's message so she didn't bother to pay attention to Edward's sulking.

"He says he's coming to visit me in a about a month," Bella said not looking up from her phone. She was twirling it around anxiously in her hands.

"Oh, that will be ... interesting," he said.

She still had her back to him so she took a moment to roll her eyes. Then she felt a bit guilty. She tried to imagine if the situation was reversed – yeah, she'd be jealous too. She turned around and climbed into his arms. He was mopey but still willing to hold her.

"I really want you to meet him. He's my best friend and you're my boyfriend, please try to be nice and don't freak yourself out about it," she kissed him softly. He didn't respond so she tried again and again until she was raining kisses down on his face. Once he started laughing she knew they'd be ok. He grabbed her face to stop her moving around and kissed her hard. When he'd finished she was breathless but smiling.

"I'll try. I'm not making any promises," he said seriously.

"You are so dramatic, Edward. Honestly you're worse than a fourteen year old girl!" she said pinching his sides.

"Hey! I am not dramatic don't minimize my emotions Bella!"

"Minimize? Have you been watching Oprah again? Oh my god Edward, am I having an 'Aha' moment?" she said sarcastically.

"Oh you're going to pay for that! Oprah is a national treasure!"

He grabbed her around her waist and they melted into a heap on her bed. As he kissed her Bella felt like she was floating.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks so much to anyone who is still reading this! x x <strong>


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